A  ^OMAN'S 
IMPRESSIONS 


OF  THE 


PHILIPPINES 


UC-NRLF 


SB    375    777 


\ 


MARY  H.  FEE 


A  WOMAN'S   IMPRESSIONS   OF 
THE   PHILIPPINES 


WOMAN'S  IMPRESSIONS 

OF  THE  PHILIPPINES 


BY 

MARY  H.  FEE 

ii 


ILLUSTRATED    FROM    PHOTOGRAPHS 


>       »    <*     •»     *        »  J 


CHICAGO 

A.  C.  McCLURG  &  CO. 

1910 


JJS4  5 


Copyright 
A.  C.  McClurg  &  Co. 
1910 


Published  March  26,  1910 


the  uyivBR«rry  premj,  Cambridge,  it.s.a. 


TO 
MY   SCHOOLMATE    AND    LIFE-LONG    FRIEND 

MARTHA  PARRY  GISH 

THIS    BOOK 
IS    AFFECTIONATELY    DEDICATED 


268954 


CONTENTS 

Chapter  Page 

I.    The  Voyage  Begins 11 

II.    From  San  Francisco  to  Honolulu     .  21 

III.  Our  Ten  Days'  Sightseeing      ...  26 

IV.  From  Honolulu  to  Manila  ....  38 
V    Our  First  Few  Days  in  the  City     .  45 

VI.    From  Manila  to  Capiz     .....  60 

VII.    My  First  Experiences  as  a  Teacher 

of  Filipinos 73 

VIII.    An  Analysis  of  Filipino  Character  86 

IX.    My    Early    Experiences    in    House- 
keeping       107 

X.    Filipino  Youths  and  Maidens  .     .     .  119 

XL    Social  and  Industrial  Condition  of 

the  Filipinos 130 

XII.    Progress  in  Politics  and  Improvement 

of  the  Currency 150 

XIII.  Typhoons  and  Earthquakes      .     .     .  168 

XIV.  War  Alarms  and  the  Suffering  Poor  179 

XV.    The  Filipino's   Christmas  Festivities 

and  his  Religion 192 


VI 


CONTENTS 


Chapter 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX 

XX. 

XXI. 

XXII. 


My  Gold-hunting  Expedition 
An  Unpleasant  Vacation    . 


Page 
206 

217 


The  Aristocracy,  the  Poor,  and  Ameri- 
can Women 232 

Weddings  in  Town  and  Country  .     .  250 

Sickbeds  and  Funerals 262 

Sports  and  Amusements 270 

Children's  Games  —  The  Conquest  of 

Fires 280 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 
Filipino  School  Children     . Frontispiece 

The  Pali,  near  Honolulu 28 

West  Indian  Rain -tree,  or  Monkey-pod  Tree,  Honolulu  34 

The  Volcano  of  May6n 40 

View  of  Corregidor 42 

Swarming  Craft  on  the  Pasig  River,  Manila   ....  46 

"  The  Rat-pony  and  the  Two-wheeled  Nightmare  "      .  48 

The  Luneta,  Manila 52 

The  Bend  in  the  River  at  Capiz 62 

Street  Scene  in  Rombldn 64 

Church,  Plaza,  and  Public  Buildings,  Capiz    ....  80 

The  Home  of  an  American  Schoolteacher 90 

A  Characteristic  Group  of  Filipino  Students  ....  100 

Filipino  School  Children 110 

A  Filipino  Mother  and  Family 120 

A  Company  of  Constabulary  Police 132 

Group  of  Officials  in  front  of  Presidente's  (Mayor's) 

Residence 142 


viii  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 

A  High-class  Provincial  Family,  Capiz 148 

Pasig  Church 154 

The  Isabella  Gate,  Manila 162 

Calle  Real,  Manila 174 

Procession  and  Float  in  Streets  of  Capiz,  in  Honor  of 

Filipino  Patriot  and  Martyr,  Jose"  Rizal    ....  184 

A  Rich  Cargo  of  Fruit  on  the  Way  to  Market    ...  194 

A  Family  Group  and  Home  in  the  Settled  Interior .    .  200 

Filipino  Children   "Going    Swimming"   in   the  Rio 

Cagayan 212 

Mortuary  Chapel  in  Paco  Cemetery,  Manila  ....  220 

The  "  Ovens  "  in  Paco  Cemetery,  Manila 228 

Peasant  Women  of  the  Cagayan  Valley 236 

A  Wedding  Party  Leaving  the  Church 252 

A  Funeral  on  Romblon  Island 264 

Bicol  School  Children  One  Generation  Removed  from 

Savagery 272 

Sunset  over  Manila  Bay 282 


A  WOMAN'S   IMPRESSIONS  OF 
THE   PHILIPPINES 


A  WOMAN'S  IMPRESSIONS 
OF  THE  PHILIPPINES 


CHAPTER  ONE 

THE   VOYAGE   BEGINS 
I  FIND  THE   TRANSPORT   SHIP  Buford   AND  MY  STATEROOM  —  OLD 

Maids  and  Young  Maids  bound  for  the  Orient  —  The  De- 
ceitful Sea  —  Making  New  Friends  and  Acquaintances. 

ON  a  hot  July  day  the  army  transport  Buford 
lay  at  the  Folsom  Dock,  San  Francisco,  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  drooping  from  her  stem,  her 
Blue  Peter  and  a  cloud  of  smoke  announcing  a  speedy 
departure,  and  a  larger  United  States  flag  at  her  fore- 
mast signifying  that  she  was  bound  for  an  American 
port.  I  observed  these  details  as  I  hurried  down  the 
dock  accompanied  by  a  small  negro  and  a  dressing- 
bag,  but  I  was  not  at  that  time  sufficiently  educated 
to  read  them.  I  thought  only  that  the  Buford  seemed 
very  large  (she  is  not  large,  however),  that  she  was 
beautifully  white  and  clean;  and  that  I  was  delighted 
to  be  going  away  to  foreign  lands  upon  so  fine  a  ship. 

Having  recognized  with  relief  a  pile  of  luggage  going 
aboard  —  luggage  which  I  had  carefully  pasted  with 
red,  white,  and  blue  labels  crossed  by  the  letters 
"U.  S.  A.  T.  S."  and  Buford  —  I  dismissed  the  negro, 
grasped  the  dressing-bag  with  fervor,  and  mounted  the 


12      IMPRESSIONS   OF    THE   PHILIPPINES 

gangway.  To  me  the  occasion  was  momentous.  I 
was  going  to  see  the  world,  and  I  was  one  of  an  army 
of  enthusiasts  enlisted  to  instruct  our  little  brown 
brother,  and  to  pass  the  torch  of  Occidental  knowledge 
several  degrees  east  of  the  international  date-line. 

I  asked  the  first  person  I  met,  who  happened  to  be 
the  third  officer,  where  I  should  go  and  what  I  should 
do.  He  told  me  to  report  at  the  quartermaster's 
office  at  the  end  of  the  promenade  deck.  A  white- 
haired,  taciturn  gentleman  in  the  uniform  of  a  major, 
U.  S.  A.,  was  occupying  this  apartment,  together  with 
a  roly-poly  clerk  in  a  blue  uniform  which  seemed  to  be 
something  between  naval  and  military.  When  I  men- 
tioned my  name  and  showed  my  order  for  transporta- 
tion, the  senior  officer  grunted  inarticulately,  and 
waved  me  in  the  direction  of  his  clerk,  glaring  at  me 
meanwhile  with  an  expression  which  combined  singu- 
larly the  dissimilar  effects  of  a  gimlet  and  a  plane. 
The  rotund  junior  contented  himself  with  glancing 
suspiciously  at  the  order  and  sternly  at  me.  As  if 
reassured,  however,  by  my  plausible  countenance,  he 
flipped  over  the  pages  of  a  ledger,  told  me  the  number 
of  my  stateroom,  and  hunted  up  a  packet  of  letters, 
which  he  delivered  with  an  acid  reproof  to  me  for  not 
having  reported  before,  saying  that  the  letters  had 
been  accumulating  for  ten  days. 

It  is  true  that  the  Buford  had  been  scheduled  to  sail 
on  the  first  day  of  the  month;  but  I  had  arrived  a 
day  or  two  before  that  date,  only  to  learn  that  the 
sailing  date  had  been  postponed  to  the  tenth.  I  had 
made  many  weary  trips  to  the  army  headquarters  in 


THE    VOYAGE   BEGINS  13 

Montgomery  Street,  asking  for  mail  —  and  labels  — 
with  no  results.  Nobody  had  suggested  that  the  mail 
would  be  delivered  aboard  ship,  and  I  had  not  had 
sense  enough  to  guess  it.  I  did  not  make  any  ex- 
planations to  the  quartermaster  and  his  clerk,  how- 
ever, because  an  intuition  warned  me  not  to  add 
tangible  evidence  to  a  general  belief  in  civilian  stu- 
pidity. I  merely  swallowed  my  snubbing  meekly  and 
walked  off. 

I  ambled  about,  clinging  to  the  dressing-bag  and 
looking  for  some  one  resembling  a  steward.  At  the 
foot  of  the  ladder  leading  to  the  bridge  I  encountered 
two  young  girls  descending  therefrom  with  evidences  of 
embarrassed  mirth.  They  were  Radcliffe  girls,  whose 
evil  genius  had  led  them  to  the  bridge  and  to  an  indig- 
nant request  to  explain  their  presence  there.  They 
explained  to  no  purpose,  and,  in  response  to  a  plain- 
tive inquiry  where  to  go,  were  severely  told,  "We 
don't  know,  but  go  down  from  here  immediately." 
So  they  came  down,  crimson  but  giggling,  and  saw  me 
(they  said)  roaming  about  with  an  expression  at  once 
wistful  and  complacent. 

I  found  a  steward  and  my  stateroom  at  last,  and  a 
brown-haired,  brown-eyed  young  woman  in  it  who  was 
also  a  pedagogue.  We  introduced  ourselves,  disposed 
of  our  parcels,  and  began  to  discuss  the  possibilities  of 
the  voyage.  She  was  optimistically  certain  that  she 
was  not  going  to  be  seasick.  I  was  pessimistically 
certain  that  I  was.  And  she  was  wrong,  and  I  was 
right.  We  were  both  gloriously,  enthusiastically, 
madly  seasick. 


14      IMPRESSIONS    OF    THE   PHILIPPINES 

When  we  returned  to  the  deck,  it  was  crowded  with 
passengers,  the  mail  was  coming  aboard,  and  all  sorts 
of  bugle-calls  were  sounding,  for  we  were  carrying 
"casuals."  It  was  a  matter  of  wonder  that  so  many 
persons  should  have  gathered  to  bid  adieu  to  a  pas- 
senger list  recruited  from  all  parts  of  the  Union.  The 
dock  was  black  with  people,  and  our  deck  was  densely 
crowded.  Khaki-clad  soldiers  leaned  over  the  side  to 
shout  to  more  khaki  on  the  dock.  An  aged,  poorly 
dressed  woman  was  crying  bitterly,  with  her  arms 
about  the  neck  of  a  handsome  boy,  one  of  our  cabin 
passengers ;  and  all  about,  the  signs  of  intense  feeling 
showed  that  the  voyage  marked  no  light  interval  of 
separation. 

I  stood  at  the  forward  rail  of  the  promenade  deck, 
and  fell  into  conversation  with  a  gentleman  whom  I 
had  met  in  San  Francisco  and  who  was  a  fellow 
passenger.  We  agreed  in  being  glad  that  none  of  our 
relatives  were  there  to  see  us  off;  but,  though  we 
made  much  ado  to  seem  matter-of-fact  and  quite 
strong-minded  about  expatriating  ourselves,  I  noticed 
that  he  cleared  his  throat  a  great  deal,  and  my  chin 
annoyed  me  by  a  desire  to  tremble. 

The  gongs  warned  visitors  ashore,  and,  just  as  all 
the  whistles  of  San  Francisco  were  blowing  the  noon 
hour,  we  backed  away  from  the  dock,  and  turned  our 
head  to  sea.  As  the  little  line  of  green  water  between 
ship  and  dock  widened  to  a  streamlet  and  then  to  a 
river,  the  first  qualm  concerning  the  wisdom  of  the 
expedition  struck  its  chilly  way  to  my  heart.  Prob- 
ably most  of  the  passengers  were  experiencing  the 


THE    VOYAGE   BEGINS  15 

same  doubts ;  and  the  captain  suspected  the  fact,  for 
he  gave  us  fire  drill  just  to  distract  our  attention  and 
to  settle  our  nerves. 

The  luncheon  gong  sounded  immediately  after  his 
efficacious  diversion,  and  the  military  people  who  were 
to  eat  in  the  first  section  —  the  Buford' s  dining-room 
was  small  —  went  down  to  lunch.  The  junior  lieuten- 
ants, and  the  civil  engineers  and  schoolteachers,  who 
made  up  her  civilian  list,  took  their  last  look  at  San 
Francisco.  We  swung  past  Alcatraz  Island  and  heard 
the  army  bugles  blowing  there.  The  irregular  outline 
of  the  city  with  its  sky-scrapers  printed  itself  against 
a  background  of  dazzling  blue,  with  here  and  there  a 
tufty  cloud.  The  day  was  symbolic  of  the  spirit  which 
sent  young  America  across  the  Pacific  —  hope,  bril- 
liant hope,  with  just  a  cloud  of  doubt. 

We  passed  the  Golden  Gate  just  as  our  own  luncheon 
gong  sounded,  and  the  Buford  was  rolling  to  the  heave 
of  the  outside  sea  as  we  sat  down  to  our  meal.  At 
our  own  particular  table  we  were  eight  —  eight  nice 
old  (and  young)  maid  schoolteachers.  Some  of  us 
were  plump  and  some  were  wofully  thin.  One  was 
built  on  heroic  lines  of  bone,  and  those  sinners  from 
Radcliffe  were  pretty. 

Toward  the  end  of  luncheon  the  Buford  began  to  roll 
and  pitch  and  otherwise  behave  herself  "most  unbe- 
coming/' and  my  room-mate,  declining  to  finish  her 
luncheon,  fled  to  the  deck,  where  the  air  was  fresher. 
Feeling  no  qualms  myself,  and  secretly  triumphing  in 
her  disillusion,  I  followed  with  her  golf  cape  and  rug, 
of  which  she  had  been  too  engrossed  to  think.    My 


16      IMPRESSIONS    OF    THE   PHILIPPINES 

San  Francisco  acquaintance  coming  to  my  assistance, 
we  established'  her  in  a  steamer  chair  and  sat  down, 
one  on  each  side,  to  cheer  her  up,  —  and  badly  she 
needed  it,  for  her  courage  was  fast  deserting  her. 

The  sea  was  running  heavily,  and  the  wind  was  cold ; 
I  had  not  thought  there  could  be  such  cold  in  July. 
The  distance  was  obscured  by  a  silvery  haze  which 
was  not  thick  enough  to  be  called  a  fog,  but  which 
lent  a  wintry  aspect  to  sea  and  sky  —  a  likeness  in- 
creased by  the  miniature  snow-field  on  each  side  of 
the  bow  as  the  water  flung  up  and  melted  away  in 
pools  like  bluish-white  snow  ice. 

As  the  Buford  waded  into  the  swell,  wave  after  wave 
dashed  over  the  forward  deck,  drenching  a  few  mis- 
erable soldiers  there,  who  preferred  to  soak  and  freeze 
rather  than  to  go  inside  and  be  seasick.  Sometimes 
the  spray  leaped  hissing  up  on  the  promenade  deck, 
and  our  weather  side  was  dripping,  as  I  found  when 
I  went  over  there.  I  also  slipped  and  fell  down,  but 
as  that  side  of  the  ship  was  deserted,  nobody  saw  me 
—  to  my  gratification.  I  petted  a  bruised  shin  a  few 
minutes  and  went  back  to  the  lee  side  a  wiser  woman. 

About  three  o'clock,  when  Miss  R 's  face  was 

assuming  a  fine,  corpse-like  green  tint,  I  began  to 
have  a  hesitating  and  unhappy  sensation  in  the  pit  of 
the  stomach,  a  suggestion  of  doubt  as  to  the  wisdom  of 
leaving  the  solid,  reliable  land,  and  trusting  myself  to 
the  fickle  and  deceitful  sea.  In  a  few  moments  these 
disquieting  hints  had  grown  to  a  positive  clamor,  and 
my  head  and  heels  were  feeling  very  much  as  do  those 
of  gentlemen  who  have  been  dining  out  with  "  terrapin 


THE    VOYAGE   BEGINS  17 

and  seraphim  "  and  their  liquid  accompaniments.    At 

this  time  Miss  R gave  out  utterly  and  went  below, 

but  I  was  filled  with  the  idea  that  seasickness  can  be 
overcome  by  an  effort  of  will,  and  stayed  on,  making 
an  effort  to  "demonstrate/'  as  the  Christian  Scientists 
say,  and  trying  to  look  as  if  nothing  were  the  matter. 
The  San  Francisco  man  remained  by  me,  persistent  in 
an  apparently  disinterested  attempt  to  entertain  me; 
but  I  was  not  deluded,  for  I  recognized  in  his  devotion 
the  fiendish  joy  of  the  un-seasick  watching  the  uncon- 
fessed  tortures  of  those  who  are. 

It  was  five  o'clock  when  I  gasped  with  a  last  effort 
of  facetious  misery,  "And  yet  they  say  people  come 
to  sea  for  their  health,"  and  went  below.  The  Farral- 
ones  Islands,  great  pinky-gray  needles  of  bleak  rock, 
were  sticking  up  somewhere  in  the  silvery  haze  on  our 
starboard  side,  and  I  loathed  the  Farralones  Islands, 
and  the  clean  white  ship,  and  myself  most  of  all  for 
embarking  upon  an  idiotic  voyage. 

Arrived  in  the  stateroom,  it  was  with  little  less  than 

horror  that  I  saw  Miss  R in  the  lower  berth  —  my 

berth.  Such  are  the  brutalizing  influences  of  seasick- 
ness that  I  immediately  reminded  her  that  hers  was 
above.  She  dragged  herself  out,  and,  in  a  very  ecstasy 
of  selfish  misery,  I  discarded  my  garments  and  bur- 
rowed into  the  warmth  of  my  bed.  Never  had  blankets 
seemed  more  comfortable,  for,  between  the  wind  and 
the  seasickness,  I  was  chilled  through  and  through. 

I  fell  asleep  through  sheer  exhaustion,  and  wakened 
some  time  after  in  darkness.  The  waves  were  hissing 
and  slapping  at  the  porthole;  the  second  steward  was 

2 


18       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

cursing  expertly  in  the  linen  closet,  which  happened  to 
be  opposite  our  stateroom;  and  somewhere  people  in 
good  health  were  consuming  viands,  for  cooking  odors 
and  the  rattle  of  dishes  came  to  us.  A  door  in  the  cor- 
ridor opened,  and  the  sound  of  a  cornet  was  wafted 
back  from  the  forward  deck.  Somebody  was  playing 
"The  Holy  City."  Steps  went  by.  A  voice  with  an 
English  accent  said,  "By  Jove,  you  can't  get  away 
from  that  tune,"  and,  in  one  of  those  instants  of  still- 
ness which  fall  in  the  midst  of  confusion,  I  heard  a 
gurgling  moan. 

I  snapped  on  the  light  and  turned  —  at  what  cost 

only  the  seasick  can  appreciate  —  to  behold  Miss  R 

sitting  on  the  floor  with  her  back  to  the  wall.  She  was 
still  shrouded  in  her  golf  cape  and  hood,  and  contem- 
plated her  boots  —  which  were  on  her  feet,  sticking 
straight  out  before  her  —  as  if  they  were  a  source  of 
mental  as  well  as  bodily  inconvenience.  At  intervals 
she  rolled  her  head  and  gave  utterance  to  that  shudder- 
ing moan. 

Wretched  as  I  was,  I  could  not  help  gasping,  "Are 
you  enjoying  your  sea  trip?"  and  she  replied  sepul- 
chrally,  "It  isn't  what  it's  cracked  up  to  be."  We 
could  say  no  more.    That  time  we  groaned  in  unison. 

She  must  have  gathered  strength  of  mind  and  body 
in  the  night,  however,  for  she  was  in  her  berth  next 
morning  when  the  stewardess  came  in  to  know  what 
we  wanted  for  breakfast.  We  did  not  want  anything, 
as  we  quickly  made  reply.  The  wind  went  down  that 
day ;  the  next  day  was  warm  and  clear,  with  a  sea  like 
sapphire,  and  we  dragged  ourselves  to  the  deck.    Re- 


THE  VOYAGE  BEGINS  19 

covery  set  in  quickly  enough  then,  so  that  we  began 
to  " think  scornful"  of  seasickness.  Fortunately  the 
good  ship  Buford  ploughed  her  way  across  the  Pacific 
without  meeting  another  swell,  and  our  pride  was  not 
humbled  again.  We  ate  quite  sparingly  for  a  meal  or 
two,  and  had  fits  of  abstraction,  gazing  at  the  ceiling 
when  extra-odorous  dishes  were  placed  in  front  of  us. 
The  Radcliffe  girls  said  that  they  had  passed  a  stren- 
uous night,  engaged  in  wild  manoeuvres  to  obtain  pos- 
session of  the  monkey  wrench  and  feloniously  to  secrete 
the  same.  Their  collegiate  training  had  included  in- 
struction on  the  hygienic  virtues  of  fresh  air,  which 
made  no  allowance  for  a  sea  trip ;  and  their  views  as  to 
the  practical  application  of  these  principles  came  sadly 
into  conflict  with  the  ideas  of  their  bedroom  steward. 
There  were  frantic  searchings  for  a  monkey  wrench  all 
that  night,  while  the  article  lay  snugly  bestowed  be- 
tween the  mattresses  of  a  maiden  who  looked  as  if  she 
might  be  thinking  of  the  angels.  Also  their  porthole 
was  open  in  defiance  of  orders,  and  much  water  came 
into  their  stateroom.  But  they  did  not  care,  for  it 
brought  fresh  air  with  it. 

The  first  two  or  three  days  of  the  voyage  were  spent 
in  taking  stock  of  our  fellow  passengers  and  in  finding 
our  friends.  We  were  about  seventy-five  cabin  passen- 
gers in  all,  —  a  small  family,  it  is  true.  The  ship  was 
coaled  through  to  Manila,  the  first  stop  being  Guam. 
So  we  made  acquaintance  here  and  there,  settling  our- 
selves for  no  paltry  five  or  six  days'  run,  but  for  a 
whole  month  at  sea.  We  all  came  on  deck  and  took  our 
fourteen  laps  —  or  less  —  around  the  promenade  deck 


30       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

before  breakfast.  The  first  two  or  three  nights,  with 
a  sort  of  congregational  impulse,  we  drifted  forward 
under  the  promenade  awnings,  and  sang  to  the  accom- 
paniment of  the  cornetist  on  the  troop  deck.  The 
soldiers  sang  too,  and  many  an  American  negro  melody, 
together  with  "On  the  Road  to  Mandalay  "  and  other 
modern  favorites,  floated  melodiously  into  the  starlit 
silence  of  the  Pacific.  Our  huge  windsail  flapped  or 
bellied  as  the  breeze  fell  or  rose;  the  waves  thumped 
familiarly  against  the  sides;  the  masthead  lantern 
burned  clear  as  a  star;  and  the  real  stars  swung  up 
and  down  as  the  bowsprit  curtsied  to  each  wave.  In 
the  intervals  between  songs  a  hush  would  fall  upon  us, 
and  the  sea  noises  were  like  effects  in  a  theatre. 

In  a  few  days,  however,  our  shyness  and  strangeness 
wore  off.  We  no  longer  sang  with  the  soldiers, 
but  segregated  ourselves  into  congenial  groups;  and 
under  the  electric  lights  the  promenade  deck  looked, 
for  all  the  world,  like  the  piazza  of  a  summer  hotel. 


CHAPTER  TWO 

FROM  SAN    FRANCISCO  TO  HONOLULU 
We  change  our  Course  and  arrive  at  Honolulu  —  The  City 

VIEWED  FROM  THE  SEA  —  ITS  MlXED  POPULATION We  ARE 

DETAINED  TEN  DAYS  FOR  ENGINE  REPAIRS. 

WHEN  we  were  a  week  out  from  San  Francisco 
and  were  eight  hundred  or  a  thousand  miles 
north  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  the  Buford 
stopped  one  evening  just  at  sunset,  and  for  at 
least  twenty  minutes  slopped  about  in  the  gentle 
swell.  There  is  a  curious  sense  of  dulness  when  the 
engines  cease  droning  and  throbbing;  and  the. pas- 
sengers, who  had  just  come  up  from  dinner,  were 
affected  by  the  unusual  silence.  We  hung  over  the 
rail,  talking  in  subdued  tones  and  noting  the  beauty 
of  the  sunset. 

Behind  us  the  sea  lay  purple  and  dark,  with  the  same 
sad,  sweet  loneliness  that  a  prairie  has  in  the  dusk; 
but  between  us  and  the  sun  it  resembled  a  molten  mass, 
heaving  with  sinister  power.  Our  bowsprit  pointed 
straight  at  the  fiery  ball  hanging  on  the  sky  rim,  above 
which  a  pyramidal  heaping  of  clouds  aped  the  forms  of 
temples  set  on  rocky  heights.  And  from  that  fantastic 
mingling  of  gold  and  pink  and  yellow  the  sky  melted 
into  azure  streaked  with  pearl,  and  faded  at  the  zenith 


22       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

into  what  was  no  color  but  night  —  the  infinity  of 
space  unlighted. 

When  the  engines  started  up,  the  gorgeous  picture 
swung  around  until  it  stood  on  what  is  technically 
called  the  starboard  beam,  whereupon  one  of  the  engi- 
neers called  my  attention  to  the  fact  that  we  had 
changed  our  course.  Since  we  were  then  headed  due 
south,  he  added,  we  must  be  bound  for  Honolulu. 

Everybody  was  pleased,  though  there  was  some 
little  anxiety  to  know  the  cause  of  this  disregard  of 
orders  and  of  our  turning  a  thousand  miles  out  of  our 
course.  In  an  ordinary  merchant  ship  doubtless 
somebody  would  have  been  found  with  the  temerity  to 
ask  the  captain  or  some  other  officer  what  was  the 
matter,  but  nobody  was  fool  enough  to  do  that  on  an 
army  transport.  The  "ranking"  officer  aboard  was 
rather  intimate  with  the  quartermaster  captain,  and 
we  hoped  something  might  be  found  out  through  him ; 
but  if  the  quartermaster  made  any  confidences  to  the 
officer,  that  worthy  kept  them  to  himself.  We  women 
went  to  bed  with  visions  of  fire  in  the  hold,  or  of  "tail 
shafts"  ready  to  break  and  race.  The  night  passed 
tranquilly,  however,  and  the  next  morning  there  was 
no  perceptible  anxiety  about  the  officers.  As  the 
Bufvrd's  record  runs  were  about  two  hundred  and 
sixty  miles  a  day,  the  remembrance  that  something 
was  wrong  had  almost  faded  before  Honolulu  was  in 
sight. 

We  arrived  at  Honolulu  during  the  night,  and,  the 
steward  afterwards  said,  spent  the  second  half  of  it 
"prancing"  up  and  down  outside  the  bar,  waiting  for 


FROM  SAN  FRANCISCO   TO  HONOLULU     23 

the  dawn.  A  suspicion  that  the  staid  Buford  could 
prance  anywhere  would  have  brought  me  out  of  bed. 
I  did  rise  once  on  my  elbow  in  response  to  an  excited 
whisper  from  the  upper  berth,  in  time  to  see  a  dazzle  of 
electric  lights  swing  into  view  through  the  porthole 
and  vanish  as  the  vessel  dipped. 

I  dressed  in  time  to  catch  the  last  of  the  sunrise,  but 
when  I  went  on  deck,  found  that  nearly  half  the  passen- 
gers had  been  more  enterprising  than  I.  We  were  at 
anchor  in  the  outer  harbor,  and  Honolulu  lay  before 
us  in  all  the  enchantment  of  a  first  tropical  vision.  A 
mountain  of  pinky-brown  volcanic  soil  —  they  call  it 
Diamond  Head  —  ran  out  into  the  sea  on  the  right, 
and,  between  it  and  another  hill  which  looks  like  an 
extinct  crater  and  is  called  the  Punch  Bowl,  a  beach 
curved  inward  in  a  shining  line  of  surf  and  sand.  Back 
of  this  line  lay  some  two  or  three  miles  of  foreshore, 
covered  with  palm-trees  and  glossy  tropical  vegetation, 
from  which  peeped  out  the  roofs  and  towers  of  the  resi- 
dence portion  of  the  city.  There  were  mountains  behind 
the  town,  jagged  sierra-like  peaks  with  clefts  and  gorges 
between.  They  were  terraced  half-way  up  the  sides  and 
were  covered  with  the  light  green  of  crops  and  the 
deeper  green  of  forests.  Tatters  of  mist  draped  them 
here  and  there,  while  clouds  lowered  in  half  a  dozen 
spots,  and  we  could  see  the  smoky  lines  of  as  many 
showers  in  brisk  operation. 

On  our  left  the  shipping  lay  clustered  about  the 
wharfs,  sending  its  tracery  of  masts  into  the  clear  sky ; 
and  all  around  glowed  the  beauty  of  a  shallow  harbor, 
coral-fringed.    From  the  sapphire  of  the  water  in  our 


24       IMPRESSIONS  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES 

immediate  vicinity,  the  sea  ranged  to  azure  and  apple 
green,  touched  by  a  ray  of  sunlight  into  a  flashing 
mirror  here,  heaping  into  snow  wreaths  of  surf  there; 
and  against  this  play  of  color  loomed  the  swart  bulk  of 
the  Pacific  Mail  steamer  Coptic,  flying  her  quarantine 
flag. 

We  watched  the  doctor's  launch  go  out  to  her,  saw 
the  flag  fall  and  the  belch  of  smoke  as  she  started  shore- 
ward, while  the  launch  came  on  to  us.  In  a  little  while 
we  too  were  creeping  toward  the  docks.  Naked 
Kanaka  boys  swam  out  to  dive  for  pennies.  The  build- 
ings on  the  shore  took  shape.  The  crowd  on  the  dock 
shaped  itself  into  a  body  of  normal-looking  beings,  in- 
terspersed with  ladies  in  kimonos  who  were  carrying 
babies  on  their  backs  (the  Japanese  population  of 
Honolulu  is  very  large),  and  with  other  dark-skinned 
ladies  in  Mother  Hubbards  decorated  with  flower 
wreaths.  There  were  also  numerous  gentlemen  of  a 
Comanche-like  physiognomy,  who  wore  ordinary  dress, 
but  were  distinguished  by  flower  wreaths  in  lieu  of 
hat  bands.  Here  and  there  Chinese  women  loafed 
about,  wearing  trousers  of  a  kind  of  black  oilcloth,  and 
leading  Chinese  babies  dressed  in  more  colors  than 
Joseph's  coat  — grass-green,  black,  azure,  and  rose. 
In  the  background  several  army  wagons  were  filled 
with  officers  in  uniform  and  with  white-clad  American 
women. 

We  schoolteachers  lost  no  time  when  the  boat  was 
once  tied  up  at  the  dock,  for  it  was  given  out  that  some 
trifling  repairs  were  to  be  made  to  the  boat's  engines 
and  that  we  should  sail  the  next  day.    We  sailed,  in 


FROM  SAN  FRANCISCO   TO  HONOLULU     25 

point  of  fact,  just  ten  days  later,  for  the  engines  had  to 
be  taken  down  to  be  repaired.  As  the  notice  of  depar- 
ture within  twenty-four  hours  was  pasted  up  every 
day  afresh,  it  held  our  enthusiasm  for  sight-seeing  at 
a  feverish  pitch. 


CHAPTER  THREE 


The  Fish  Market  —  We  are  treated  to  Poi  —  We  visit  the 
Stores  —  Hawaiian  Curiosities  —  The  Southern  Cross 
—  Our  Trip  to  the  Dreadful  Pali  —  The  Rescue  —  The 
Flowers  and  Trees  of  Honolulu  —  The  Mango  Tree 
and  its  Fruit. 

MY  first  impressions  of  Honolulu  were  disap- 
pointing. I  had  been,  in  my  childhood,  a 
fascinated  peruser  of  Mark  Twain's  "  Rough- 
ing It,"  and  his  picture  of  Honolulu  —  or  rather  my 
picture  formed  from  his  description  of  it  —  demanded 
something  novel  in  foliage  and  architecture,  and  a 
great  acreage  of  tropical  vegetation.  What  we  really 
found  was  a  modern  American  city  with  straight  streets, 
close-clipped  lawns,  and  frame  houses  of  various  styles 
of  architecture  leaning  chiefly  to  the  gingerbread,  and 
with  a  business  centre  very  much  like  that  of  a  Western 
town.  Only  after  three  or  four  days  did  the  charm  and 
individuality  of  Honolulu  make  themselves  felt. 

To  leave  the  dock,  we  had  to  pass  through  the  fish 
market,  which  looked  like  any  other  fish  market,  but 
seemed  to  smell  worse.  When  we  looked  at  the  fish, 
however,  we  almost  forgot  the  odors,  for  they  were  as 
many  tinted  as  a  rainbow.  Coral  red,  silver,  blue, 
blue  shot  with  purple,  they  seemed  to  tell  of  sun-kissed 


OUR  TEN  DAYS'  SIGHTSEEING  27 

haunts  under  wind-ruffled  surfaces  or  of  dusky  caves 
within  the  underworld  of  branching  coral.  It  is  hard  to 
be  sentimental  about  fish,  but  for  the  space  of  two  min- 
utes and  a  half  we  quite  mooned  over  the  beauty  fish 
of  Honolulu. 

Leaving  the  market,  we  came  upon  a  ley  woman  who 
wanted  to  throw  a  heavy  wreath  of  scented  flowers  about 
the  neck  of  each  of  us  at  a  consideration  of  twenty 
cents  per  capita.  She  was  a  fat  old  woman  who  used 
many  alluring  gestures  and  grinned  coquettishly ;  but 
we  were  adamant  to  her  pleadings,  and  seeing  a  street 
car  jingling  toward  us  —  one  of  the  bobtailed  mule 
variety  —  we  left  her  to  try  her  wiles  on  a  fresh  group 
from  our  boat,  and  hailed  the  street  car.  As  we  en- 
tered, one  passenger  remarked  audibly  to  another,  "I 
see  another  transport  is  in,"  which  speech  lowered 
my  spirits  fifty  degrees.    I  hate  to  be  so  obvious. 

Under  that  nightmare  of  threatened  departure  we 
went  flying  from  place  to  place.  In  the  first  store  which 
we  entered  we  were  treated  to  poi —  a  dish  always 
offered  to  the  stranger  as  a  mark  of  hospitality  —  and 
partook  of  it  in  the  national  manner ;  that  is,  we  stuck 
our  forefingers  in  the  poi,  and  each  then  sucked  her 
own  digit.  Poi  is  made  from  taro  root,  and  tastes 
mouldy.  It  is  exceedingly  nasty  —  nobody  would 
want  two  dips. 

The  stores  were  just  like  those  of  the  United  States, 
and  the  only  commercial  novelties  which  we  discovered 
were  chains  made  of  exquisitely  tinted  shells,  which 
came  from  somewhere  down  in  the  South  Seas,  and 
other  chains  made  of  coral  and  of  a  berry  which  is  hard 


28       IMPRESSIONS  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES 

and  red  and  looks  like  coral.  At  the  Bishop  Museum, 
however,  we  found  an  interesting  collection  of  Malay- 
sian curios  and  products  —  birds,  beasts,  fishes,  weap- 
ons, dress,  and  domestic  utensils.  Among  the  dress 
exhibits  were  cloaks  made  of  yellow  feathers,  quite 
priceless  (I  forget  how  many  thousand  birds  were 
killed  to  make  each  cloak) ;  and  among  the  household 
utensils  were  wooden  bowls  inlaid  with  human  teeth. 
It  was  a  humorous  conceit  on  the  part  of  former  Ha- 
waiian kings  thus  to  compliment  a  defunct  enemy. 

There  was  a  dance  that  night  at  the  Hawaiian  Hotel 
in  honor  of  our  passengers,  most  of  whom  attended, 
leaving  me  almost  a  solitary  passenger  aboard.  Those 
happy  sinners  from  Radcliffe  went  off  in  their  best 
frocks.  I  lay  in  a  steamer  chair  on  the  afterdeck,  scan- 
ning the  heavens  for  the  Southern  Cross.  I  counted, 
as  nearly  as  I  can  remember,  about  eight  arrange- 
ments of  stars  that  might  have  been  said  to  resemble 
crosses.  Not  one  of  them  was  it,  however.  Later,  I 
made  acquaintance  with  the  Cross,  and  I  must  say  it 
has  been  much  overrated  by  adjective-burdened  litera- 
ture. It  does  not  blaze,  and  it  is  lop-sided,  and  it  is 
not  magnificent  in  the  least.  It  consists  of  five  stars 
in  the  form  of  an  irregular  diamond,  and  it  is  not  half 
so  cross-like  as  the  so-called  False  Cross. 

Next  morning  the  military  band  came  down  and 
gave  us  an  hour's  concert  on  the  promenade  deck.  We 
sat  about  under  the  awnings  with  our  novels  or  our 
sewing  or  our  attention.  At  the  end  they  played  the 
"Star  Spangled  Banner,"  and  we  all  stood  up,  the 
soldiers  at  attention,  hat  on  breast.    One  of  the  passen- 


f  IHp 

i . 

■■IHHIHi^^HII 

, ; 

OUR   TEN  DAYS'  SIGHTSEEING  29 

gers  refused  to  take  off  his  hat,  so  that  we  had  something 
to  gossip  about  for  another  hour. 

In  the  afternoon  we  took  a  ride  up  Pacific  Heights 
on  the  trolley  car.  Pacific  Heights  is  a  residence  suburb 
where  the  houses  are  like  those  on  the  Peak  at  Hong 
Kong,  clinging  wherever  they  can  get  room  on  the  steep 
sides  of  the  mountain.  The  view  of  the  city  and  of  the 
blue  harbor  dotted  with  ships  was  beautiful.  In  the 
evening  we  went  to  a  band  concert  in  Emma  Square, 
and  on  the  third  day  made  our  memorable  trip  to  the 
Pali. 

We  had  been  hearing  of  the  Pali  ever  since  we  landed. 
It  is  a  cliff  approached  by  a  gorge,  whence  one  of  those 
unpronounceable  and  unspellable  kings  once  drove  his 
enemies  headlong  into  the  sea.  We  could  not  miss  a 
scene  so  provocative  of  sensations  as  this,  so  several 
of  us  teachers  and  an  army  nurse  or  two  packed  our- 
selves into  a  wagonette  for  the  journey.  We  started 
bright  and  early,  or  as  near  bright  and  early  as  is  pos- 
sible when  one  eats  in  the  second  section  and  the  first 
section  sits  down  to  breakfast  at  eight  o'clock. 

Our  driver  was  a  shrewd,  kindly,  gray-haired  old 
Yankee,  cherishing  a  true  American  contempt  for  all 
peoples  from  Asia  or  the  south  of  Europe.  He  was  con- 
versational when  we  first  started,  but  his  evident  desire 
to  do  the  honors  of  Honolulu  handsomely  was  chilled 
by  a  suggestion  from  one  of  the  saints  that,  when  we 
should  arrive  in  the  suburbs,  he  would  let  down  the 
check-reins.  The  horses  were  sturdy  brutes,  not  at  all 
cruelly  checked;  but  the  saint  could  not  rise  superior 
to  habit.    Unfortunately  she  made  the  request  with 


SO       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

that  blandly  patronizing  tone  which  in  time  becomes 
second  nature  to  kindergartners.  Its  insinuating 
blandness  ruffled  our  Jehu,  who  opined  that  his  horses 
were  all  right,  and  that  he  could  look  after  their  com- 
fort without  any  assistance.  He  did  not  say  anything 
about  old  maids,  but  the  air  was  surcharged  with  his 
unexpressed  convictions,  so  that  all  of  our  cohort  who 
were  over  thirty-five  were  reduced  to  a  kind  of  abject 
contrition  for  having  been  born,  and  for  having  con- 
tinued to  live  after  it  was  assured  that  we  were  destined 
to  remain  incomplete. 

We  drove  through  the  beautiful  Nuuana  Avenue 
with  its  velvet  lawns  and  magnificent  trees,  and  then 
wound  up  the  steep  valley  between  the  terraced  gar- 
dens of  the  mountain-sides.  Not  a  hundred  yards 
away  a  shower  drove  by  and  hung  a  silver  curtain  like 
the  gauze  one  which  is  used  to  help  out  scenic  effects 
in  a  theatre ;  and  presently  another  swept  over  us  and 
drenched  us  to  the  skin.  Half  a  dozen  times  in  the 
upward  journey  we  were  well  soaked,  but  we  dried  out 
again  as  soon  as  the  hot  sun  peeped  forth.  We  did  not 
mind,  but  tucked  our  hats  under  the  seats  and  took 
our  drenchings  in  good  part. 

At  last  we  arrived  at  a  point  where  the  road  turned 
abruptly  around  a  sharp  peak,  the  approach  to  which 
led  through  a  gorge  formed  by  a  second  mountain  on 
the  left.  We  could  tell  that  there  was  a  precipice  be- 
yond, because  we  could  see  the  remains  of  a  fence  which 
had  been  recently  broken  on  the  left,  or  outside,  part 
of  the  road.  The  driver  stopped  some  twenty-five  or 
thirty  yards  outside  the  gorge,  saying  that  he  could 


OUR  TEN  DAYS'  SIGHTSEEING  31 

approach  no  nearer,  as  the  velocity  of  the  wind  in  the 
cleft  made  it  dangerous.  Our  subsequent  experiences 
led  me  to  doubt  his  motive  in  not  drawing  nearer,  and 
to  accredit  to  him  a  hateful  spirit  of  revenge. 

We  alighted  in  another  of  those  operatic  showers,  and 
made  our  way  to  the  gorge,  laughing  and  dashing  the 
rain  drops  from  our  faces.  We  were  not  conscious  of  any 
particular  force  of  wind,  but  no  sooner  were  we  within 
those  towering  walls  of  rock  than  a  demon  power  began 
to  tear  us  into  pieces  and  to  urge  us  in  the  direction 
of  the  broken  fence.  The  first  gust  terrified  us,  and 
with  universal  feminine  assent  we  clutched  at  our 
skirts  and  screamed. 

The  next  blast  sent  combs  and  hairpins  flying,  drove 
our  wet  hair  about  our  faces,  and  forced  us  to  release  our 
garments,  which  behaved  most  shockingly.  I  saw  a 
kind  of  recess  in  the  cliffs  to  the  right  under  an  over- 
hanging shelf  of  rock,  and,  though  it  was  approached 
by  a  mud  puddle,  made  straight  for  it  and  in  temporary 
quiet  let  go  my  threshing  skirts  and  braided  my  hair. 
I  could  see  our  driver  in  the  distance,  pretending  to  look 
after  his  harness,  and  indulging  in  hyaena  mirth  at  the 
figures  we  cut.  Then,  to  make  matters  worse,  there 
came  a  shout  from  the  hidden  road  to  the  right,  and, 
three  abreast,  a  party  of  young  civil  engineers  from  our 
ship  charged  round  the  corner. 

Most  of  our  party  sat  down  in  their  tracks,  and  a 
stifled  but  heartfelt  moan  escaped  from  more  than 
one.  I  waded  three  inches  deeper  into  the  mud  puddle 
and  flattened  myself  against  a  wall  of  oozy  rock  with 
an  utterly  unfeminine  disregard  of  consequences. 


32       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

The  men  were  of  a  thoroughly  good  sort,  however, 
and,  ignoring  our  plight,  insisted  on  helping  us  round 
the  corner.  They  said  that,  once  we  were  out  of  the 
gorge  and  on  the  other  face  of  the  mountain,  the  strong 
draught  ceased.  So  each  woman  took  a  frenzied  grasp 
of  her  skirts,  and,  with  an  able-bodied  man  steadying 
her  on  each  side,  made  the  run  and  brought  up  safe  on 
the  other  side.  There  did  not  seem  to  be  much  to  see  — 
nothing  but  the  precipitous  face  of  the  cliff  towering 
above  us,  the  road  cut  out  of  it,  winding  steeply  down 
to  the  right,  and  the  shoulder  of  the  left-hand  peak 
running  up  into  a  cloud-swept  sky.  Below  us  was  a 
floor  of  mist,  swaying  to  unfelt  airs,  heaving,  gray, 
and  sad. 

Just  about  this  time  a  Chinaman  arrived  —  one  of 
the  beast-of-burden  sort  —  with  two  immense  baskets 
swung  across  his  shoulders  on  a  bamboo  pole.  He 
made  three  ineffectual  efforts  to  get  round  the  point, 
but  had  to  fall  on  his  knees  each  time,  as  the  wind 
threatened  to  sweep  him  too  near  the  cliff.  So  the 
philanthropic  youths  went  to  his  assistance  as  they 
had  come  to  ours,  and  piloted  him  safely  round  the 
bend.  We  became  so  much  interested  in  this  operation 
and  in  the  Chinaman's  efforts  to  express  his  thanks  that 
we  quite  forgot  our  disappointment  at  the  Pali's  un- 
kind behavior.  A  sudden  gleam  of  sunshine  recalled 
us.  The  clouds  which  had  been  dripping  down  upon 
us  were  rent  apart  to  reveal  a  long  streamer  of  blue, 
and  to  give  passage  to  a  shaft  of  sunlight  which  drove 
resistlessly  through  the  mist  floor.  The  fog  parted 
shudderingly,  silently,  and  for  a  moment  we  looked 


OUR   TEN  DAYS'  SIGHTSEEING  33 

down  into  a  beautiful  valley,  green  and  with  a  thou- 
sand other  tints  and  shades,  and  set  in  a  great  inward 
curve,  beyond  which  the  sea  raced  up  in  frothy  billows 
to  the  clean  white  sands.  Far  beneath  us  as  it  was,  we 
could  detect  the  flashes  on  wet  foliage ;  indeed,  I  could 
think  of  nothing  but  a  cup  of  emerald  rimmed  with  sap- 
phire and  studded  with  brilliants.  For  an  all  too  brief 
space  it  quivered  and  shimmered  under  the  sunburst, 
and  then  the  mist  floor  closed  relentlessly,  the  heavens 
grayed  again,  and  another  downpour  set  in. 

We  waited  long,  but  the  Pali  declined  to  be  wooed 
into  sight  again,  nor  am  I  certain  that  we  were  the 
losers  thereby.  The  whole  effect  was  so  brief  and 
vivid  that  our  pleasure  in  it  was  greatly  intensified. 
Longer  vision  might  have  brought  out  details  which 
we  missed,  but  it  would  have  converted  into  the  mem- 
ory of  a  beautiful  scene  that  which  has  remained  a 
peep  into  fairyland. 

Our  return  through  the  gorge  was  accompanied  by 
all  the  original  drawbacks.  Our  driver  had  released 
the  check-reins  of  the  horses,  but  he  ostentatiously 
checked  them  up  again  as  we  appeared.  He  had  en- 
tirely recovered  his  good  humor,  and  contemplated 
our  dishevelled  appearance  with  secret  glee.  The 
Pali  has  its  good  features,  but  it  must  be  admitted 
there  are  drawbacks. 

Among  the  military  people  aboard  there  was  a  lady 
of  uncertain  age,  and  of  a  mistaken  conception  of  what 
was  becoming  to  her  fading  charms.  She  was  gaunt, 
and  leathery  of  skin,  and  she  wore  "baby  necks"  and 
elbow  sleeves,   and   affected   childish  simplicity  and 

3 


34       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

perennial  youth.  On  our  first  night  out  of  Honolulu 
I  happened  to  come  around  the  corner  of  the  promenade 
deck  in  time  to  observe  one  of  the  men  passengers  con- 
templating this  lady,  who  stood  at  some  distance  from 
him,  attired  in  a  rather  decollete  frock.  The  man's 
attitude  was  a  modified  edition  of  that  of  the  Colossus 
of  Rhodes.  He  steadied  a  cigarette  between  his  lips 
with  the  third  and  fourth  fingers  of  his  left  hand, 
while  his  right  hand  was  thrust  into  his  trousers  pocket. 
A  peculiar  expression  lingered  on  his  countenance  — 
a  kind  of  struggle  between  a  painful  memory  and  a 
judicial  estimate.  He  was  so  absorbed  in  his  musings 
that  he  did  not  notice  me,  and  he  spoke  aloud. 

"I  knew  she  was  thin,"  he  said,  "but  even  with  her 
low-necked  dresses,  I  did  not  think  that  it  was  as  bad 
as  it  is." 

I  beat  a  retreat  without  attracting  his  attention,  but 
I  understood  him,  for  I  had  seen  him  on  the  back  seat 
of  an  army  ambulance  in  the  clutches  of  the  perenni- 
ally youthful  lady,  starting  for  the  Pali. 

We  left  Honolulu  with  the  modified  regret  which  al- 
ways must  be  entertained  when  other  lands  are  beck- 
oning. The  native  custom  of  adorning  departing 
friends  with  wreaths  of  flowers  was  followed,  and  some 
of  our  army  belles  were  almost  weighed  down  with 
circlets  of  blossoms  cast  over  their  heads  by  admiring 
officers  of  Honolulu.  Once  clear  of  the  dock  and  out  of 
eye  range,  they  shamelessly  cast  these  tokens  away, 
and  the  deck  stewards  gathered  up  the  perfumed  heaps 
and  threw  them  overboard.  The  favorite  flowers  used 
in  these  ley,  or  wreaths,  were  the  creamy  white  blossoms 


OUR   TEN  DAYS'  SIGHTSEEING  35 

with  the  golden  centre  from  which  the  perfume  frangi- 
pani  is  extracted.  This  flower  is  known  in  the  Philip- 
pines as  calachuchi.  There  were  also  some  of  the  yellow, 
bell-shaped  flowers  called  "  campanilo,"  and  a  variety  of 
the  hibiscus  which  we  learned  to  call "  coral  hibiscus,"  but 
which  in  the  Philippines  is  known  as  arana,  or  spider. 

The  flowers  of  Honolulu  and  Manila  seem  very  much 
alike.  In  neither  place  is  there  a  wide  variety  of  garden 
flowers,  but  there  is  an  abundance  of  flowering  shrubs 
and  trees. 

One  quite  common  plant  is  the  bougainvillaea,  which 
climbs  over  trellises  or  trees,  and  covers  them  with  its 
mass  of  magenta  blossoms.  The  scarlet  hibiscus,  either 
single  or  double,  and  the  so-called  coral  hibiscus  grow 
profusely  and  attain  the  size  of  a  large  lilac  bush.  There 
is  another  bush  which  produces  clusters  of  tiny,  star- 
like flowers  in  either  white  or  pink.  It  is  called  in  the 
Philippines  "santan,"  but  I  do  not  know  its  name  in 
Honolulu. 

Catholic  missionaries  were  instrumental  in  introduc- 
ing into  the  Hawaiian  Islands  a  tree  of  hardy  and 
beautiful  foliage  which  has  thrived  and  now  covers  a 
great  part  of  the  mountain  slopes.  This  is  the  algoroda 
tree,  the  drooping  foliage  of  which  is  suggestive  of  a 
weeping  willow.  Then  there  is  the  beautiful  West  In- 
dian rain-tree,  which  the  Honolulu  people  call  the 
monkey-pod  tree,  and  which  in  the  Philippines  is  mis- 
called acacia.  Its  broad  branches  extend  outward  in 
graceful  curves,  the  foliage  is  thick  but  not  crowded, 
and  it  is  an  ideal  shade  tree,  apart  from  the  charm  of  its 
blossoms  of  purplish  pink. 


36       IMPRESSIONS  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES 

The  fire-tree  and  the  mango  are  two  others  which  are 
a  joy  to  all  true^  lovers  of  trees.  The  fire-tree  is  de- 
ciduous, and  loses  its  leaves  in  December.  In  April 
or  May,  before  the  leaves  come  back,  it  bursts  into 
bloom  in  great  bunches  of  scarlet  about  the  size  of  the 
flower  mass  of  the  catalpa  tree.  The  bark  is  white, 
and  as  the  tree  attains  the  size  of  a  large  maple,  the 
sight  of  this  enormous  bouquet  is  something  to  be  re- 
membered. When  the  leaves  come  back,  the  foliage  is 
thick,  and  the  general  appearance  of  the  tree  is  like 
that  of  a  locust. 

Among  tropical  trees,  however,  the  most  beautiful 
is  the  mango.  Its  shape  is  that  of  a  sharply  domed 
bowl.  The  leaves  are  glossy  and  thickly  clustered. 
It  is  distinguishable  at  a  long  distance  by  its  dignity 
and  grace.  But  the  mass  of  its  foliage  is  a  drawback, 
inasmuch  as  few  trunks  can  sustain  the  weight;  and 
one  sees  everywhere  the  great  trunk  prostrate,  the 
roots  clinging  to  the  soil,  and  the  upper  branches 
doing  their  best  to  overcome  the  disadvantages  of  a 
recumbent  position. 

We  ate  our  first  mangoes  in  Honolulu,  and  were 
highly  disgusted  with  them,  assenting  without  murmur 
to  the  statement  that  the  liking  of  mangoes  is  an 
acquired  taste.  I  had  a  doubt,  to  which  I  did  not  give 
utterance,  of  ever  acquiring  the  taste,  but  may  as  well 
admit  that  I  did  acquire  it  in  time.  The  only  American 
fruit  resembling  a  mango  in  appearance  is  the  western 
pawpaw.  The  mango  is  considerably  larger  than  the 
pawpaw,  and  not  identical  in  shape,  though  very  like 
it  in  smooth,  golden  outer  covering.    When  the  mangq 


OUR   TEN  DAYS'  SIGHTSEEING  37 

is  ripe,  its  meat  is  yellow  and  pulpy  and  quite  fibrous 
near  the  stone,  to  which  it  adheres  as  does  a  clingstone 
peach.  It  tastes  like  a  combination  of  apple,  peach, 
pear,  and  apricot  with  a  final  merger  of  turpentine.  At 
first  the  turpentine  flavor  so  far  dominates  all  others 
that  the  consumer  is  moved  to  throw  his  fruit  into 
the  nearest  ditch ;  but  in  time  it  diminishes,  and  one 
comes  to  agree  with  the  tropical  races  in  the  opinion 
that  the  mango  is  the  king  of  all  fruits. 


CHAPTER  FOUR 

FROM   HONOLULU  TO  MANILA 

Voyaging  over  the  Tropical  Seas  —  We  touch  at  Guam,  or 
Guahan,  One  of  the  Ladrone  Islands  —  Our  First  Sight 
of  the  Philippines  —  Manila,  "  a  Mass  of  Towers,  Domes, 
and  White-painted  Iron  Roofs  peeping  out  of  Green  "  — 
Dispersion  of  the  Passengers. 

FROM  Honolulu  to  Guam  we  crept  straight 
across  in  the  equatorial  current,  blistering  hot 
by  day,  a  white  heat  haze  dimming  the  hori- 
zon, and  an  oily  sea,  not  blue,  but  purple,  running  in 
swells  so  long  and  gentle  that  one  could  perceive  them 
only  by  watching  the  rail  change  its  angle.  Once  we 
saw  a  whale  spout ;  several  times  sharks  followed  us, 
attracted  by  the  morning's  output  of  garbage ;  and  at 
intervals  flying  fish  sallied  out  in  sprays  of  silver. 
Once  or  twice  we  passed  through  schools  of  skate, 
which,  when  they  came  under  our  lee,  had  a  curiously 
dazzling  and  phosphorescent  appearance.  One  of  the 
civil  engineers  aboard  called  them  phosphorescent 
skate,  but  I  had  my  doubts,  for  I  noticed  that  bits  of 
paper  cast  overboard  would  assume  the  same  opales- 
cent tints  when  three  or  four  feet  down  in  the  water. 
We  had  also  the  full  moon,  leaving  a  great  shining 
pathway  in  our  wake  at  night,  and  flooding  us  with 
unreal  splendor.  The  pale  stars  swung  up  and  down 
as  the  Buford  slipped  over  each  wave,  and  little  ripples 


FROM  HONOLULU   TO  MANILA  39 

of  breeze  cooled  the  weather  side  of  the  ship.  By 
this  time  we  were  a  thoroughly  assorted  company. 
The  afterdeck  was  yielded  to  flirtatious  married  ladies 
whose  husbands  were  awaiting  them  in  Manila,  while 
we  sobersides  and  the  family  groups  gathered  under 
the  awnings.  We  sang  no  more ;  but  the  indefatigable 
cornetist  on  the  troop  deck  still  entertained  his  fel- 
lows, while  occasionally  a  second  steward  stole  out  with 
a  mandolin,  and  struggled  with  the  intermezzo  from 
"Cavalleria."  We  did  not  run  out  of  talk,  however, 
and  the  days  went  by  all  too  swiftly. 

Of  Guam  I  can  only  say  that  it  struck  me  as  the 
most  desolate  spot  I  had  ever  seen.  It  stays  hi  my 
memory  as  a  long  peninsula,  or  spit  of  land,  running 
out  into  the  sea,  with  a  ten  or  twelve-foot  bank  above, 
fringed  with  ragged  cocoanut  trees.  Back  of  this  the 
land  rose  gradually  into  low  hills.  There  was  a  road 
leading  to  the  town  some  eight  miles  inland,  and  four- 
mule  ambulances  dashed  up  and  down  this.  We  had 
to  anchor  three  miles  off  shore  on  account  of  coral 
reefs.  We  had  commissary  stores  to  land,  and  our 
navigator  captain  lost  his  temper,  because  the  only 
available  lighter  in  Guam  was  smashed  by  a  falling 
bundle  of  pig  iron  the  first  thing.  For  a  while  the 
outlook  for  fresh  provisions  in  Guam  was  a  sorry  one, 
for  our  captain  vowed  by  all  his  saints  that  he  would 
up  anchor  and  away  at  four  o'clock.  The  glass  indi- 
cated a  change  of  weather,  and  he  was  unwilling  to 
risk  his  ship  in  the  labyrinth  of  coral  reefs  that  en- 
circles the  island.  Fortunately  a  German  tramp 
whaler  dropped  into  harbor  at  this  point  for  water, 


40       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

and  some  boats  were  obtained  from  her  —  though  I 
could  never  see  why,  for  we  had  plenty  of  our  own. 
The  unloading  process  went  on  briskly,  and  toward 
noon  the  U.  S.  gunboat  Yorktown  came  in  to  pay  a 
call;  thus  there  were  actually  three  vessels  at  one 
time  in  the  harbor  of  Guam. 

Such  a  repletion  of  visitors  had  never  been  known 
there.  The  four-mule  wagons  seemed  crazed  with  ex- 
citement. The  enthusiasm  even  spread  to  the  natives, 
who  hung  about  in  dug-outs,  offering  to  sell  us  cocoa- 
nuts,  pineapples,  and  green  corn.  Our  captain  kept 
his  word,  for  at  four  o'clock  we  swung  about  and  left 
Guam  behind  us.  Our  passenger  list  was  richer  by 
several  political  prisoners  who  had  been  in  exile  and 
were  returning  to  their  native  land  —  whether  for  trial 
or  for  freedom,  I  have  no  knowledge. 

Some  five  or  six  days  later,  it  was  rumored  that  we 
should  pick  up  the  light  on  the  southeast  coast  of 
Luzon  about  midnight,  and  most  of  us  stayed  up  to 
see  it.  We  also  indulged  in  the  celebration  without 
which  few  passenger  ships  can  complete  a  long  voy- 
age. We  had  a  paper  and  it  was  read,  after  which 
ceremonial  the  ship's  officers  invited  us  to  partake  of 
sandwiches  and  lemonade  in  the  dining-room.  The  re- 
freshments were  considerably  better  than  the  paper, 
which  was  neither  wise  nor  witty,  but  abounded  in 
those  commonplace  personalities  to  which  the  imagi- 
nation of  amateur  editors  usually  soars. 

About  2  a.  m.,  when  yawns  were  growing  harder  and 
harder  to  conceal,  the  light  made  its  appearance.  I 
counted  three  flashes  and  went  below. 


FROM  HONOLULU   TO  MANILA  41 

Next  morning,  we  were  hugging  the  coast  of  Albay 
abreast  the  volcano  of  Mayon,  said  to  be  the  most 
perfect  volcanic  cone  in  the  world.  It  seems  to  rise 
straight  from  the  sea;  with  its  perfectly  sloping  sides 
and  a  summit  wreathed  in  delicate  vapors,  it  is 
worthy  of  the  pride  with  which  it  is  regarded  by  the 
Filipinos. 

Then  we  entered  the  Strait  of  San  Bernardino,  be- 
tween Luzon  and  Samar,  and  passed  for  a  day  through 
a  region  of  isles.  The  sea  was  glassy  save  when  a 
school  of  porpoises  tore  it  apart  in  their  pursuit  of 
the  flying  fish.  On  its  deep  sapphire  the  islands  seemed 
to  float,  sometimes  a  mere  pinnacle  of  rock,  sometimes 
a  cone-shaped  peak  timbered  down  to  the  beach  where 
the  surf  fell  over.  Toward  evening,  when  the  breeze 
freshened  slightly,  we  seemed  almost  to  brush  the  sides 
of  some  of  these  islets,  and  they  invited  us  with  spark- 
ling pools  and  coves,  with  beaches  over  which  the  sea 
wimpled,  and  with  grassy  hillsides  running  out  into 
promontories  above  cliffs  of  volcanic  rock.  Thatched 
villages  nestled  in  the  clefts  of  the  larger  islands,  or 
a  fleet  of  paraos  might  be  drawn  up  in  a  curving  bay. 
And,  yonder  in  the  golden  west,  shimmering,  dancing, 
in  rosy-tinted  splendor,  more  islands  beckoned  us  to 
the  final  glory  of  a  matchless  day  —  clouds  heaped  on 
clouds,  outlined  in  thin  threads  of  gold,  and  drawing, 
in  broad  shafts  of  smoky  flame,  the  vapors  of  an  opal 
sea.  At  that  time  I  had  not  seen  the  famous  Inland 
Sea  of  Japan,  but  I  have  since  passed  through  it  twice, 
and  feel  that  in  beauty  the  Strait  of  San  Bernardino 
has  little  to  yield  to  her  far-famed  neighbor. 


42       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

Next  day  we  crept  up  the  coast  of  Batangas,  and 
when  I  came  on  deck  the  second  morning  they  told 
me  that  the  island  on  our  left  was  Corregidor,  and 
that  Manila  was  three  hours'  sail  ahead.  It  was  of  no 
use  going  into  a  trance  and  coming  up  in  imagination 
with  Dewey,  because  he  did  not  come  our  way.  The 
entrance  to  Manila  Bay  is  rather  narrow,  and  Corregi- 
dor lies  a  little  to  one  side  in  it  like  a  stone  blocking  a 
doorway.  The  passage  on  the  left  entering  the  bay  is 
called  Boca  Chica,  or  Little  Mouth ;  that  to  the  right 
is  called  Boca  Grande,  or  Big  Mouth.  Dewey  entered 
by  the  Boca  Chica,  and  we  were  in  Boca  Grande. 

By  and  by  a  cluster  of  roofs,  church  towers,  docks, 
and  arsenals  took  form  against  the  sea.  A  little  later 
we  could  discern  the  hulks  of  the  Spanish  fleet  scat- 
tered in  the  water,  and  several  of  our  own  fighting 
craft  at  anchor.  This  was  Cavite.  There,  too,  around 
a  great  curve  of  eight  or  nine  miles,  lay  Manila,  a  mass 
of  towers,  domes,  and  white-painted  iron  roofs  peeping 
out  of  green.  Behind  loomed  the  background  of  moun- 
tains, without  which  no  Filipino  landscape  is  ever 
complete. 

By  eleven  o'clock  we  had  dropped  anchor  and  the 
long  voyage  was  over.  Counting  our  ten  days  in 
Honolulu,  we  lacked  but  three  of  the  forty  days  and 
forty  nights  in  which  the  pilgrims  fasted  in  the  wilds. 
It  would  be  injustice  to  the  Buford's  well-filled  larder, 
however,  to  intimate  that  we  fasted.  Our  food  was 
good,  barring  the  ice  cream,  which  the  chef  had  a 
weakness  for  flavoring  with  rose  water. 

The  first  launch  that  came  out  after  the  doctor's 


FROM  HONOLULU   TO  MANILA  43 

brought  a  messenger  from  the  Educational  Depart- 
ment with  orders  to  us  teachers  to  remain  aboard  till 
next  day,  when  a  special  launch  would  be  sent  for  us. 
So  all  day  we  watched  our  friends  go  down  over  the 
side,  and  waved  farewells  to  them.,  and  made  engage- 
ments to  meet  on  the  Luneta.  The  launches  and 
lighters  and  cascos  swarmed  round  us,  the  cargo  der- 
ricks groaned  and  screeched,  the  soldiers  gathered  up 
knapsack  and  canteen  and  marched  solemnly  down  the 
ladder.  Vessels  steamed  past  us  or  anchored  near  us, 
while  we  hung  over  the  rail,  gazing  at  Manila,  so 
near  and  yet  so  far.  After  dinner  we  betook  ourselves 
to  the  empty  afterdeck  and  stared  down  the  long 
promenade  —  alas!  resembling  the  piazza  of  a  very 
empty  hotel!  —  and  peopled  it  with  the  ghosts  of 
those  who  late  had  sat  there.  They  had  gone  out  of 
our  lives  after  a  few  brief  days  of  idleness,  but  they 
would  take  up,  as  we  should,  the  work  of  building  a 
nation  in  a  strange  land  and  out  of  a  reluctant  people. 
Some  were  fated  to  die  of  wounds,  and  some  were 
stricken  with  the  pestilence.  Most  of  them  are  still 
living,  moving  from  army  post  to  army  post.  Some 
are  still  toiling  in  the  remotenesses  of  mountain  vil- 
lages; others  are  dashing  about  Manila  in  the  midst 
of  its  feverish  society.  Some  have  gone  to  swell  the 
American  colonies  in  Asiatic  coast  towns.  A  few  have 
shaken  the  dust  of  the  Philippines  forever  from  their 
feet,  and  are  seeking  fame  in  the  home  land  and  wooing 
fortune  in  the  traffic  of  great  cities  or  in  peaceful  rural 
life.  Some,  perhaps,  may  read  these  lines,  and,  read- 
ing, pause  to  give  a  tender  thought  to  the  land  which 


44       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

most  Americans  revile  while  they  are  in  it,  but  which 
they  sentimentally  regret  when  they  have  left  it. 

Eight  long  years  have  slipped  by  since  that  night, 
and  in  that  time  a  passing-bell  has  tolled  for  the  Phil- 
ippines which  we  found  then.  Who  shall  say  for 
many  a  year  whether  the  change  be  for  better  or  for 
worse?  But  the  change  has  come,  and  for  the  sake  of 
a  glamour  which  overlay  the  quaint  and  moribund  civ- 
ilization of  the  Philippines  of  that  day  I  have  chron- 
icled in  this  volume  my  singularly  unadventurous 
experiences. 

The  afterdeck  was  empty,  and  the  promenade  was 
the  haunt  of  ghosts,  but  across  the  circle  of  gloom  we 
could  see  a  long  oval  of  arc  lights  with  thousands  of 
little  glow-worms  beneath,  which  we  knew  were  not 
glow-worms  at  all,  but  carriage  lamps  dashing  round 
the  band  stand;  and  as  if  he  divined  our  sentimental 
musings,  the  second  steward  took  heart  and  not  only 
played  but  sang  his  favorite  air  from  "Cavalleria." 


CHAPTER  FIVE 

OUR  FIRST  FEW  DAYS  IN  THE  CITY 

The  Pasiq  River,  with  its  Swarm  of  House-boats  —  Through 
Manila  into  the  Walled  City  —  Our  First  Meal  —  A 
Walk  and  a  Drive  in  Manila  —  The  Admirable  Police- 
men —  We  superintend  the  Preparation  of  Quarters 
for  Additional  Teachers  —  That  Artful  Radcliffe  Girl. 

OUR  guide  from  the  Educational  Department 
appeared  about  eleven  o'clock  the  next  day, 
which  happened  to  be  Sunday.  We  and  our 
trunks  were  bundled  into  a  launch,  and  we  left  the 
Buford  forever. 

We  were  familiar  with  the  magazine  illustrations  of 
the  Pasig  long  before  our  pedagogic  invasion  of  Manila, 
but  we  were  unprepared  for  the  additional  charm  lent 
to  these  familiar  views  by  the  play  of  color.  The  ship- 
ping was  as  we  had  imagined  it  —  large  black  and 
gray  coasters  in  the  Hong-Kong  and  inter-island  trade, 
a  host  of  dirty  little  vapors  (steamers)  of  light  ton- 
nage, and  the  innumerable  cascos  and  bancas.  The 
bancas  are  dug-out  canoes,  each  paddled  by  a  single 
oarsman.  The  casco  is  a  lumbering  hull  covered  over 
in  the  centre  with  a  mat  of  plaited  bamboo,  which 
makes  a  cave-like  cabin  and  a  living  room  for  the 
owner's  family.  Children  are  born,  grow  up,  become 
engaged,  marry,  give  birth  to  more  children  —  in  short, 


46       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

spend  their  lives  on  these  boats  with  a  dog,  a  goat, 
and  ten  or  twelve  lusty  gamecocks  for  society. 

The  cascos  lie  along  the  bank  of  the  river  ten  deep ; 
every  time  a  coasting  steamer  wants  to  get  out,  she 
runs  afoul  of  them  in  some  way,  and  there  is  a  pretty 
mess.  It  always  seems  to  turn  out  happily,  but  the 
excitement  is  great  while  it  lasts,  and  it  is  apparently 
never  dulled  by  repetition. 

We  swept  up  the  Pasig  with  Fort  Santiago  and  the 
ancient  city  wall  on  the  right;  and,  on  the  left,  ware- 
houses, or  bodegas,  a  customhouse  with  a  gilded  dome, 
and  everywhere  the  faded  creams  and  pinks  of  painted 
wooden  buildings.  Some  of  the  roofs  were  of  corru- 
gated iron,  but  more  were  of  old  red  Chinese  tiles,  with 
ferns  and  other  waving  green  things  sprouting  in 
the  cracks.  The  wall  was  completely  hidden  with 
vegetation. 

We  landed  at  the  customhouse,  left  our  trunks  for 
inspection,  and  entered  gig-like  vehicles  which  were 
drawn  by  diminutive  ponies  and  were  called  carro- 
inaios.  Two  of  us  were  a  tight  fit,  arid,  as  I  am  stout, 
I  was  afraid  to  lean  back  lest  I  should  drag  the  pony 
upon  his  hind  legs,  and  our  entrance  into  Manila  should 
become  an  unseemly  one.  The  carromato  wheels  were 
iron-tired,  and  jolted  —  well,  like  Manila  street  carro- 
matos  of  that  day.  Since  then  a  modification  of  the 
carromato  and  of  another  vehicle  called  calesin  has 
been  evolved.  The  modern  conveyance  has  rubber 
tires  and  a  better  angle  of  adjustment,  and  the  rat-like 
pony  will  dash  about  with  it  all  day  in  good  spirits. 

We  rattled  up  a  street  which  I  have  since  learned 


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OUR  FIRST  FEW  DAYS  IN   THE  CITY      47 

is  called  San  Fernando,  and  which  looks  like  the  famous 
Chinatown  of  San  Francisco,  only  more  so.  We  passed 
over  a  canal  spanned  by  a  quaint  stone  bridge,  arriv- 
ing in  front  of  the  Binondo  Church  just  as  the  noon 
hour  struck.  Instantly  there  burst  out  such  a  clamor 
of  bells  as  we  had  never  before  heard  —  big  bells  and 
little  bells,  brass  bells  and  broken  bells  —  and  brass 
bands  lurking  in  unknown  spots  seemed  to  be  assist- 
ing. I  do  not  know  whether  the  Filipinos  were  orig- 
inally fond  of  noise  or  whether  the  Spaniards  taught 
them  to  be  so.  At  any  rate,  they  both  love  it  equally 
well  now,  and  whenever  the  chance  falls,  the  bells  and 
the  bands  are  ranged  in  opposition,  yet  bent  to  a 
common  end. 

The  Bridge  of  Spain  is  approached  from  the  Binondo 
side  by  almost  the  only  steep  grade  to  be  found  in 
Manila.  I  was  leaning  as  far  forward  as  I  could,  fig- 
uring upon  the  possible  strain  to  be  withstood  by  the 
frayed  rope  end  which  lay  between  us  and  a  backward 
somersault,  when  my  ears  were  assailed  by  an  uncanny 
sound,  half  grunt,  half  moan.  For  an  instant  I  thought 
it  was  the  wretched  pony  moved  to  protest  by  the 
grade  and  my  oppressive  weight.  But  the  pony  was 
breasting  the  steep  most  gallantly,  all  things  consid- 
ered. The  miserable  sound  was  repeated  a  second 
later,  just  as  our  little  four-footed  friend  struck  the 
level,  and  I  discovered  that  it  was  my  driver's  appeal 
to  his  steed.  It  is  a  sound  to  move  the  pity  of  more 
than  a  horse;  until  you  are  thoroughly  accustomed 
to  it  it  leaves  you  under  the  apprehension  that  the 
cochero  has  been  stricken  with  the  plague.    This  habit 


48       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

of  grunting  at  horses  seems  to  be  disappearing  at  the 
present  time,  the  haughty  customs  of  livery  carro- 
matos  perhaps  being  responsible.  Also  English  is 
spreading.  Apart  from  swear  words,  which  appear  to 
fill  a  long-felt  want  for  something  emphatic,  there  are 
at  least  three  phrases  which  every  Filipino  who  has 
to  do  with  horses  seems  to  have  made  a  part  of  his 
vocabulary.  They  are  "Back!"  "Whoa,  boy!"  and 
"Git  up!"  Your  cochero  may  groan  at  your  horse  or 
whine  at  it,  but  when  the  need  arises  he  can  draw 
upon  that  much  of  English. 

We  jolted  over  the  Bridge  of  Spain  and  through  a 
masked  gate  into  the  walled  city,  with  the  wall  on 
our  left,  and  the  high  bricked  boundaries  of  churches 
and  conventos  on  the  right,  till  we  arrived  at  a  low, 
square  frame  structure,  with  the  words  "Escuela  Mu- 
nicipal" above  its  portals.  In  Spanish  times  it  was 
the  training-school  for  girls,  and  here  temporary  ac- 
commodation had  been  provided  for  us.  We  crossed 
a  hall  and  a  court  where  ferns  and  palms  were  growing, 
and  were  ushered  into  a  room  containing  a  number  of 
four-poster  beds.  We  were  to  obtain  our  food  at  a 
neighboring  restaurant,  whither  we  soon  set  out  under 
guidance.  The  street  was  narrow,  and  all  the  houses 
had  projecting  second  floors  which  overhung  the  side- 
walk. Box-like  shops  on  the  ground  floor  were  filled 
with  cheap,  unattractive-looking  European  wares,  with 
here  and  there  a  restaurant  displaying  its  viands 
and  attracting  flies.  We  recognized  the  bananas  and 
occasionally  a  pineapple,  but  the  other  fruits  were 
new  to  us  —  lanzones  in  white,   fuzzy   clusters  like 


OUR  FIRST  FEW  DAYS  IN   THE  CITY      49 

giant  grapes ;  the  chico,  a  little  brown  fruit  that  tastes 
like  baked  apple  flavored  with  caramel;  and  the  atis, 
which  most  natives  prize  as  a  delicacy,  but  which  few 
Americans  ever  learn  to  like. 

We  had  been  introduced  to  the  alligator  pear,  the 
papaya,  and  the  mango  at  Honolulu,  but  we  were  still 
expecting  strange  and  wonderful  gastronomic  treats  in 
our  first  Philippine  meal. 

We  entered  a  stone-flagged  lower  hall  where  several 
shrouded  carriages  would  have  betrayed  the  use  to 
which  it  was  put  had  not  a  stable  odor  first  betrayed  it. 
Thence  we  passed  up  a  staircase,  broad  and  shallow, 
which  at  the  top  entered  a  long,  high-ceiled  room, 
evidently  a  salon  in  days  past.  It  had  fallen  to  baser 
uses,  however,  and  now  served  as  dining-room.  One 
side  gave  on  the  court,  and  another  on  an  azotea  where 
were  tropical  plants  and  a  monkey.  It  was  a  bare, 
cheerless  apartment,  hot  in  the  unshaded  light  of  a 
tropical  noonday.  The  tables  were  not  alluring.  The 
waiters  were  American  negroes.  A  Filipino  youth, 
dressed  in  a  white  suit,  and  wearing  his  black  hair 
in  a  pompadour,  was  beating  out  "rag  time"  at  a 
cracked  old  piano. 

"Easy  is  the  descent  into  A  vermis!"  But  there 
was  consolation  in  the  monkey  and  the  azotea,  though 
we  could  neither  pet  the  one  nor  walk  on  the  other. 
However,  we  were  the  sort  of  people  not  easily  dis- 
concerted by  trifles,  and  we  sat  down  still  expectant. 

The  vegetables  were  canned,  the  milk  was  canned, 
the  butter  was  canned,  and  the  inference  was  plain 
that  it  had  made  the  trip  from  Holland  in  a  sailing 

4 


50       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

vessel  going  around  Cape  Horn  or  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope.  As  for  the  fruits,  there  was  but  one  fruit,  a 
little  acid  banana  full  of  tiny  black  seeds.  With  guava 
jelly  it  was  served  for  dessert.  Our  landlord,  an  enter- 
prising American,  had  been  so  far  influenced  by  local 
custom  that  he  had  come  to  regard  these  two  delica- 
cies as  a  never  inappropriate  dessert.  So  long  as  we 
continued  to  "chow"  with  him,  so  long  appeared  the 
acid,  flavorless  banana  and  the  gummy,  sticky  jelty. 

In  justice  to  Manila  it  must  be  said,  however,  that 
such  conditions  have  long  since  been  outlived.  Good 
food  and  well-served  American  tables  are  plentiful 
enough  in  Manila  to-day.  The  cold-storage  depots 
provide  meats  and  butter  at  prices  as  good  as  those 
of  the  home  land,  if  not  better.  Manila  is  no  longer 
congested  with  the  population,  both  native  and  Amer- 
ican, which  centred  there  in  war  times.  There  is  not 
the  variety  of  fruits  to  be  found  in  the  United  States, 
but  there  is  no  lack  of  wholesome,  appetizing  food. 

We  returned  to  the  Escuela  Municipal,  and,  after  a 
nap,  dressed  and  went  out  for  a  walk.  The  narrow 
streets  with  overhanging  second  stories ;  the  open  win- 
dows with  gayly  dressed  girls  leaning  out  to  talk  with 
amorous  swains  on  the  pavement  below;  the  swarm- 
ing vehicles  with  coachmen  shouting  "Ta-beh";  and 
the  f miles  (friars)  —  tall,  thin,  bearded  frailes  in 
brown  garments  and  sandals,  or  rosy,  clean-shaven, 
plump  frailes  in  flapping  white  robes  —  all  made  a 
novel  scene  to  our  unt ravelled  eyes.  Mounting  a 
flight  of  moss-grown  steps,  we  found  ourselves  on 
top  of  the  wall,   whence  we  could  look  across  the 


OUR  FIRST  FEW  DAYS  IN  THE  CITY       51 

moat  to  the  beautiful  avenue,  called,  on  the  maps  of 
Manila,  the  Paseo  de  Las  Aguadas,  but  familiarly 
known  as  the  Bagumbayan.  West  India  rain-trees 
spread  their  broad  branches  over  it,  and  all  Manila 
seemed  to  be  walking,  riding,  or  driving  upon  it.  It  was 
the  hour  when  everybody  turns  his  face  Luneta-ward. 
Seized  with  the  longing,  we  too  sent  for  a  carriage. 

Our  coachman  wore  no  uniform,  but  was  resplen- 
dent in  a  fresh-laundered  white  muslin  shirt  which  he 
wore  outside  his  drill  trousers.  He  carried  us  through 
the  walled  city  and  out  by  a  masked  gate  to  a  drive 
called  the  Malecon,  a  broad,  smooth  roadway  lined 
with  cocoanut  palms.  On  the  bay  side  the  waters 
dashed  against  the  sea  wall  just  as  Lake  Michigan 
does  on  the  Lake  Shore  Drive  in  Chicago.  But  the 
view  across  the  bay  at  Manila  is  infinitely  more  beau- 
tiful than  that  at  Chicago.  To  the  left  stretches  a 
noble  curve  of  beach,  ending  with  the  spires  and  roofs 
of  Cavite  and  a  purple  line  of  plateau,  drawn  boldly 
across  the  sky.  In  front  there  is  the  wide  expanse  of 
water,  dotted  with  every  variety  of  craft,  with  a  lonely 
mountain,  rising  apparently  straight  from  the  sea, 
bulking  itself  in  the  foreground  a  little  to  the  left.  The 
mountain  is  in  reality  Mt.  Mari vales,  the  headland 
which  forms  the  north  entrance  to  Manila  Bay,  but  it 
is  so  much  higher  than  the  sierra  which  runs  back 
from  it  that  it  manages  to  convey  a  splendid  picture 
of  isolation.  The  sun  falls  behind  Mari  vales,  painting 
a  flaming  background  for  mountains  and  sea.  When 
that  smouldering  curtain  of  night  has  dropped,  and 
the  sea  lies  glooming,  and  the  ships  of  all  nations 


52       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

swing  on  their  anchor  chains,  there  are  few  lovelier 
spots  than  the  Luneta.  The  wind  comes  soft  as  velvet, 
the  surf  croons  a  lullaby,  and  the  little  toy  horses  and 
toy  victorias  spin  up  and  down  between  the  palms, 
settling  at  last  around  the  turf  oval  which  surrounds 
the  bandstand. 

Here  are  soldiers  in  clean  khaki  on  the  benches; 
officers  of  the  army  and  navy  in  snow-white  uniforms ; 
Chinamen  in  robes  of  purple  or  blue  silk,  smoking  in 
their  victorias;  Japanese  and  Chinese  nursemaids  in 
their  native  costumes  watching  their  charges  at  play 
on  the  grass;  bareheaded  American  women;  black- 
haired  Spanish  beauties ;  and  native  women  with  their 
long,  graceful  necks  rising  from  the  stiff  folds  of  azure 
or  rose-colored  kerchiefs.  American  officers  tower  by 
on  their  big  horses,  or  American  women  in  white  drill 
habits.  There  are  droves  of  American  children  on 
native  ponies,  the  girls  riding  astride,  their  fat  little 
legs  in  pink  or  blue  stockings  bobbing  against  the 
ponies'  sides.  There  are  boys'  schools  out  for  a  walk 
in  charge  of  shovel-hatted  priests.  There  are  demure 
processions  of  maidens  from  the  colegios,  sedately  prom- 
enading two  and  two,  with  black-robed  madres  vainly 
endeavoring  to  intercept  surreptitious  glances  and  re- 
marks. There  are  groups  of  Hindoos  in  turbans.  There 
are  Englishmen  with  the  inevitable  walking-sticks. 
There  are  friars  apparently  of  all  created  orders,  and 
there  is  the  Manila  policeman. 

As  I  recall  those  early  impressions,  I  think  the  awe 
and  respect  for  the  Manila  police  was  quite  the  strong- 
est of  all.    They  were  the  picked  men  of  the  army  of 


If     '      * 

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I 

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■ 

OUR  FIRST  FEW  DAYS  IN   THE  CITY      53 

invasion,  non-commissioned  officers  who  could  show  an 
honorable  discharge.  Size  must  have  been  taken  into 
consideration  in  selecting  them,  for  I  do  not  remember 
seeing  one  who  was  of  less  than  admirable  propor- 
tions. Soldierly  training  was  in  every  movement. 
There  was  none  of  the  loafing  stride  characteristic  of  the 
professional  roundsman.  They  wore  gray-green  khaki, 
tan  shoes,  tan  leather  leggings,  and  the  military  cap; 
and  a  better  set  up,  smarter,  abler  body  of  law  pre- 
servers it  would  be  difficult  to  find.  The  "  machinery 
of  politics"  had  not  affected  them,  the  instinct  of 
the  soldier  to  do  his  duty  was  strong  in  them,  and 
they  would  have  arrested  Governor  William  H.  Taft 
himself  as  gleefully  as  they  would  have  arrested  a 
common  Chinaman,  had  the  Governor  offered  suffi- 
cient provocation. 

We  enjoyed  that  first  night's  entertainment  on  the 
Luneta  as  do  all  who  come  to  Manila,  and  I  must  con- 
fess that  time  has  not  staled  it  for  me.  It  is  cosmo- 
politan and  yet  typically  Philippine.  Since  that  day 
the  fine  Constabulary  Band  has  come  into  existence, 
and  the  music  has  grown  to  be  more  than  a  mere  fea- 
ture of  the  whole  scene.  The  concert  would  be  well 
worth  an  admission  fee  and  an  hour's  confinement  in 
a  stuffy  hall.  Enjoyed  in  delightful  pure  air  with 
a  background  of  wonderful  beauty,  it  is  a  veritable 
treat. 

On  the  following  day  we  had  our  interview  with 
the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction.  He  in- 
formed us  that  in  the  course  of  a  week  the  transport 
Thomas  would  arrive,  carrying  some  five  hundred  or 


54       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

more  pedagogues.  He  suggested  that,  as  we  were  then 
drawing  full  pay,  we  might  reimburse  the  Government 
by  making  ourselves  useful  at  the  Exposition  Build- 
ing, which  was  being  put  in  order  to  receive  them. 

So  to  the  Exposition  Building  we  betook  ourselves, 
and  for  several  days  made  herculean  efforts  to  induce 
the  native  boys  and  Chinese  who  were  supposed  to 
clean  it  up  to  do  so  properly.  We  also  helped  to  put 
up  cots  and  to  hang  mosquito  nettings,  and  at  night 
we  lay  and  listened  to  the  most  vociferous  concert  of 
bull  frogs,  debutante  frogs,  tree  toads,  katydids,  lo- 
custs, and  iku  lizards  that  ever  murdered  the  sleep  of 
the  just.  We  also  left  an  open  box  of  candy  on  the 
table  of  the  dormitory  which  we  had  preempted,  start- 
ing therewith  another  such  frantic  migration  in  the 
ant  world  as  in  the  human  world  once  poured  into 
the  Klondike.  They  came  on  all  trails  from  far  and 
near.  They  invaded  our  beds,  and  when  the  sweets 
gave  out,  took  bites  out  of  us  as  the  next  best  delicacy. 

Manila  seemed  to  be  more  or  less  excited  over  the 
new  army  of  invasion,  the  local  papers  teeming  with 
jokes  about  pretty  schoolma'ams  and  susceptible 
exiles.  The  teachers  were  to  land  at  the  Anda  Monu- 
ment at  the  Pasig  end  of  the  Malecon  Drive,  and 
thence  were  to  be  conveyed  to  the  Exposition  Build- 
ing in  army  ambulances  and  Doherty  wagons  which 
the  military  had  put  at  the  disposal  of  the  Civil 
Government. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  I  was  appointed  a  sort  of 
matron  to  the  women's  dormitory,  and  had  to  be  on 
hand  to  assign  the  ladies  to  their  cots  and  to  register 


OUR  FIRST  FEW  DAYS  IN   THE  CITY      55 

them,  I  did  not  go  down  to  the  Anda  Monument  to 
see  the  disembarkation.  Plenty  of  people  who  might 
have  pleaded  less  legitimate  interest  in  the  pedagogues 
than  I  had,  were  there,  however.  By  half-past  ten 
the  first  wagon-load  had  arrived  at  the  Exposition 
Building  in  a  heavy  shower,  and  from  then  till  early 
noon  they  continued  to  pour  in.  On  the  whole,  they 
were  up  to  a  high  standard  —  a  considerably  higher 
standard  than  has  since  been  maintained  in  the  Educa- 
tional Department.  The  women  were  a  shade  in  ad- 
vance of  the  men. 

Both  men  and  women  accepted  their  rough  quarters 
with  few  complaints.  Nearly  all  were  obliging  and 
ready  to  do  their  best  to  make  up  for  the  deficiencies 
in  bell  boys  and  other  hotel  accommodations.  We  ar- 
ranged a  plan  whereby  twelve  women  teachers  were 
to  be  on  duty  each  'day,  —  a  division  of  four  for  morn- 
ing, afternoon,  and  evening,  respectively.  The  number 
of  each  woman's  cot  and  room  was  placed  after  her 
name,  and  one  teacher  acted  as  clerk  while  the  others 
played  bell  boy  and  hunted  for  those  in  demand. 

And  they  were  overworked !  By  five  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  the  parlor  of  the  Exposition  Building  looked 
like  a  hotel  lobby  in  a  town  where  a  presidential  nom- 
inating convention  is  in  session.  To  begin  with,  there 
were  the  one  hundred  and  sixty  schoolma'ams.  Then 
the  men  teachers,  who  had  been  assigned  to  the  old 
nipa  artillery  barracks,  found  the  women's  parlors  a 
pleasant  place  in  which  to  spend  an  odd  half-hour,  and 
made  themselves  at  home  there.  In  addition,  each 
woman  seemed  to  have  some  acquaintance  among  the 


56       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

military  or  civil  people  of  Manila;  and  officers  in 
white  and  gold,  and  women  in  the  creams,  blues,  and 
pinks  of  Filipino  jusi  thronged  the  rooms  till  one  could 
hardly  get  through  the  press.  Victorias  and  carro- 
matos  outside  were  crowded  as  carriages  are  about  the 
theatres  on  grand  opera  nights  at  home. 

It  would  have  been  difficult  in  all  that  crowd  to 
say  who  was  there  with  good  and  sufficient  reason. 
Many  a  man  drifted  in  and  out  with  the  hope* of 
picking  up  acquaintances,  and  doubtless  some  were 
successful. 

I  was  at  the  desk  one  day,  doing  duty  for  a  teacher 
who  was  sick,  when  two  forlorn  but  kindrlooking 
young  men  approached  and  asked  if  I  could  tell  them 
the  names  of  any  of  the  teachers  from  Michigan.  We 
had  a  list  of  names  arranged  by  States,  and  I  at  once 
handed  this  over.  They  pored  ove*r  this  long  and  sor- 
rowfully. Then  one  heaved  a  sigh,  and  one  took  me 
into  his  confidence.  They  were  from  Michigan,  and 
they  had  hoped  to  find,  one  or  the  other,  an  acquaint- 
ance on  the  list.  The  eagerness  of  this  hope  had  even 
led  them  to  bring  a  carriage  with  the  ulterior  motive 
of  doing  the  honors  of  Manila  if  their  search  proved 
successful.  Their  disappointment  was  so  heavy,  and 
they  were  so  naively  unconscious  of  anything  strained 
in  the  situation,  that  my  sympathy  was  honest  and 
open.  But  when  they  suggested  that  I  introduce  them 
to  some  of  the  women  teachers  from  Michigan,  and  I 
declined  the  responsibility  as  gently  as  I  could,  the 
frigidity  of  their  injured  pride  made  me  momentarily 
abject.    They  drifted  away  and  hung  about  with  ex- 


OUR  FIRST  FEW  DAYS  IN   THE  CITY      57 

pectancy  printed  on  their  faces  —  that  and  a  mingled 
hate  and  defiance  of  the  glittering  uniforms  which 
quite  absorbed  all  feminine  attention  and  left  their 
civilian  dulness  completely  overshadowed. 

One  of  the  Radcliffe  maidens  had  an  experience 
which  goes  far  to  show  that  higher  culture  does  not 
eradicate  the  talent  for  duplicity  for  which  the  female 
sex  has  long  been  noted,  and  which  illustrates  a  happy 
faculty  of  getting  out  of  a  disagreeable  situation.  It 
also  illustrates  a  singular  mingling  of  unsophistica- 
tion  and  astuteness,  which  may  be  a  result  of  collegiate 
training. 

One  of  the  chief  difficulties  which  beset  us  was  the 
matter  of  transportation.  In  those  days  there  was  no 
street-car  system  —  or  at  least  the  apology  for  one 
which  they  had  was  not  patronized  by  Europeans. 
The  heat  and  the  frequent  showers  made  a  convey- 
ance an  absolute  necessity.  The  livery  stables  were 
not  fully  equal  to  the  demand  upon  them,  and,  in 
addition,  there  was  no  telephone  at  the  Exposition 
Building.  As  a  consequence,  we  had  to  rely  largely 
on  street  carromatos.  We  had  a  force  of  small  boys, 
clad  in  what  Mr.  Kipling  calls  " inadequate"  shirts, 
whose  business  it  was  to  go  forth  in  response  to  the 
command,  "Busca  carromato"  and  to  return  not  till 
accompanied  by  the  two-wheeled  nightmare  and  the 
Lilliputian  pony. 

On  the  morning  on  which  we  drew  our  travel-pay 
checks,  one  of  the  Radcliffe  girls  was  most  eager  to  get 
down  town  before  the  bank  closed.  The  shops  of 
Manila  had  been  altogether  too  alluring  for  the  very 


58       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

small  balance  which  remained  in  her  purse  after  our 
ten  days  at  Honolulu.  The  efforts  of  the  small  boys 
were  apparently  fruitless,  so  she  resorted  to  the  ex- 
pedient of  trying  to  gather  up  a  carromato  from  some 
one  leaving  his  at  the  Exposition  Building.  Every 
time  a  carromato  drove  up,  she  thrust  her  cherubic 
countenance  out  of  the  window  and  inquired  of  its 
occupant  whether  he  was  going  to  retain  his  conveyance 
or  to  dismiss  it.  Most  of  the  visitors  signified  their 
intentions  of  never  letting  go  a  carromato  when  once 
they  had  it ;  and  failure  had  rather  dimmed  the  brav- 
ery of  her  inquiry,  when  one  young  man  replied  that 
he  wished  to  retain  his  carromato,  but  that  he  was 
returning  immediately  to  the  city  and  would  be  happy 
to  assist  her  and  to  take  her  wherever  she  wanted 
to  go. 

The  Radcliffe  girl  closed  with  this  handsome  offer 
at  once,  accepting  it  in  the  chummy  spirit  which  is 
supposed  to  be  generated  in  the  atmosphere  of  higher 
culture.  A  more  worldly-wise  woman  might  have  sus- 
pected him,  not  only  on  grounds  of  general  masculine 
selfishness,  but  on  the  fact  that  he  had  no  business  to 
transact  at  our  hostelry.  He  did  not  enter  its  doors, 
but  remained  sitting  in  the  carromato  till  she  joined 
him.  The  girl  had  her  mind  on  salary,  however,  and 
had  no  time  to  question  motives.  The  banks  had 
closed,  but  her  guardian  angel  drove  her  to  a  news- 
paper office,  where  he  introduced  her,  vouched  for  her, 
and  induced  the  bookkeeper  to  cash  her  check.  He 
then  expressed  a  desire  for  a  recognition  of  his  services 
in  the  form  of  introductions  to  some  of  the  teachers 


OUR  FIRST  FEW  DAYS  IN   THE  CITY      59 

at  the  Exposition  Building.  The  young  woman  was 
rather  taken  aback,  for  she  had  put  all  his  civility 
down  to  disinterested  masculine  chivalry;  but  she  re- 
flected that  she  ought  to  pay  the  price  of  her  own  rash- 
ness. She  was,  however,  a  girl  of  resources.  She 
agreed  to  let  him  call  that  afternoon  and  to  intro- 
duce him  to  some  of  her  new  friends. 

Then  she  came  home  and  outlined  the  situation  to 
an  aged  woman  who  was  chaperoning  her  daughter, 
to  a  widow  with  two  children,  and  to  an  old  maid  in 
whom  the  desire  for  masculine  conquest  had  died  for 
want  of  fuel  to  keep  the  flame  alive.  When  the  young 
man  appeared,  he  found  this  austere  and  unbeautiful 
phalanx  awaiting  him.  When  the  introductions  were 
over  and  conversation  was  proceeding  as  smoothly  as 
the  caller's  discomfiture  would  permit  it  to  do,  the 
artful  collegian  excused  herself  on  the  ground  of  a 
previous  engagement.  She  went  away  blithely,  leav- 
ing him  in  the  hands  of  the  three.  Nor  was  he  seen 
or  heard  of  on  those  premises  again.  Doubtless  he 
still  thinks  bitterly  of  the  effects  of  higher  education 
on  the  feminine  temperament.  It  was  duplicity  — 
duplicity  not  to  be  expected  of  a  girl  who  could  stick 
her  head  out  of  a  window  and  hail  the  chance  passer- 
by as  innocently  as  she  did. 


CHAPTER  SIX 

FROM  MANILA  TO   CAPIZ 

I  AM  APPOINTED  TO  A  SCHOOL   AT   CaPIZ,  ON    PANAT  ISLAND  —  We 

anchor  at  the  lovely  harbor  of  romblon  —  the  beauty 
of  the  Night  Trip  to  Iloilo  —  We  halt  there  for  a  Few 
Days  —  Examples  showing  that  the  Philippines  are  a 
"  Man  ana  "  Country  —  Kindness  of  some  Nurses  to  the 
Teachers  —  An  Uncomfortable  Journey  from  Iloilo 
to  Charming  Capiz. 

IN  due  time  our  appointments  were  made,  and 
great  was  the  wrath  that  swelled  about  the  Expo- 
sition Building !  The  curly-haired  maiden  who  had 
fallen  in  loye  with  a  waiter  on  the  Thomas  wept  openly 
on  his  shoulder,  to  the  envy  of  staring  males.  A 
very  tall  young  woman  who  was  the  possessor  of  an 
M.A.  degree  in  mathematics  from  the  University  of 
California,  and  who  was  supposed  to  know  more  about 
conic  sections  than  any  woman  ought  to  know,  was 
sent  up  among  the  Macabebes,  who  may  in  ten  gen- 
erations arrive  at  an  elementary  idea  of  what  is  meant 
by  conic  sections.  Whether  she  was  embittered  by  the 
thought  of  her  scintillations  growing  dull  from  disuse 
or  of  scintillating  head  axes,  I  know  not,  but  she  made 
little  less  than  a  tragedy  of  the  matter.  The  amount 
of  wire-pulling  that  had  been  going  on  for  stations  in 
Manila  was  something  enormous,  and  the  disappoint- 
ment was  proportionate. 


FROM  MANILA    TO   CAPIZ  61 

I  had  stated  that  I  had  no  choice  of  stations,  was 
willing  to  go  anywhere,  and  did  not  particularly  desire 
to  have  another  woman  assigned  with  me.  I  had  my 
doubts  about  the  advisability  of  binding  myself  to  live 
with  some  one  whom  I  had  known  so  short  a  time,  and 
subsequent  experience  and  the  observation  of  many  a 
quarrel  grown  out  of  the  enforced  companionship  of 
two  women  who  never  had  any  tastes  in  common  have 
convinced  me  that  my  judgment  was  sound.  I  was 
informed  that  my  station  would  be  Capiz,  a  town  on 
the  northern  shore  of  Panay,  once  a  rich  and  aristo- 
cratic pueblo,  but  now  a  town  existing  in  the  flavor 
of  decayed  gentility.  I  was  eager  to  go,  and  time 
seemed  fairly  to  drag  until  the  seventh  day  of  Sep- 
tember, on  which  date  the  boat  of  the  Compania 
Maritima  would  depart  for  Iloilo,  the  first  stage  of 
our  journey. 

September  the  seventh  was  hot  and  steamy.  We 
had  endless  trouble  getting  ourselves  and  our  baggage 
to  the  Bridge  of  Spain,  where  the  Francisco  Reyes  was 
lying.  Great  familiarity  has  since  quite  worn  away 
the  nervousness  which  we  then  felt  on  perceiving  that 
our  watches  pointed  to  half  an  hour  after  starting 
time  while  we  were  yet  adorning  the  front  steps  of  the 
Exposition  Building.  Local  boats  never  leave  on  time. 
From  six  hours  to  three  days  is  a  fair  overtime  allow- 
ance for  them. 

We  finally  arrived  at  the  steamer  in  much  agony 
and  perspiration.  The  old  saying  about  bustle  and 
confusion  was  applicable  to  the  Francisco  Reyes  if  one 
leaves  out  "  bustle."    There  were  no  immediate  signs 


62       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

of  departure,  but  there  were  evidences  of  the  eleven 
o'clock  meal.  The  muchachos  were  setting  the  table 
under  an  awning  on  the  after-deck.  A  hard-shell  roll 
with  a  pallid  centre,  which  tastes  like  "salt-rising" 
bread  and  which  is  locally  known  as  bescocho,  was  at 
each  plate  together  with  the  German  silver  knives  and 
spoons.  The  inevitable  cheese  was  on  hand,  strongly 
barricaded  in  a  crystal  dish ;  and  when  I  saw  the  tins 
of  guava  jelly  and  the  bunch  of  bananas  hanging  from 
a  stanchion,  I  had  that  dinner  all  mapped  out.  I  had 
no  time,  however,  to  speculate  on  its  constituent  ele- 
ments, because  my  attention  was  attracted  by  the 
cloth  with  which  the  boy  was  polishing  off  dishes  be- 
fore he  set  them  down.  This  rag  was  of  a  fine,  sooty- 
black  color,  and  had  a  suggestion  of  oil  about  it  as  if 
it  had  been  on  duty  in  the  engine-room;  The  youth 
grew  warm,  and  used  it  also  to  mop  his  perspiring 
countenance.  I  ceased  to  inspect  at  that  point,  and 
went  forward. 

Several  black  and  white  kids  of  an  inquisitive  turn 
of  mind  were  resting  under  my  steamer  chair,  which 
had  been  sent  on  board  the  day  before.  They  seemed 
to  feel  some  injury  at  being  dispossessed.  I  guessed  at 
once  that  we  carried  no  ice,  and  that  the  goats  were 
a  sea-faring  conception  of  fresh  meat.  As  their  num- 
bers diminished  daily,  and  as  we  enjoyed  at  least  twice 
a  day  a  steaming  platter  of  meat,  garbanzos,  peppers, 
onions,  and  tomato  sauce,  I  have  seen  no  reason  to 
change  my  opinion. 

Passengers  continued  to  arrive  until  nearly  two 
o'clock.    There  were  one  or  two  officers  with  their  mu- 


FROM  MANILA    TO   CAPIZ  03 

chachos,  and  some  twenty  or  more  schoolteachers.  Six 
were  women,  and  we  found  ourselves  allotted  the  best 
there  was. 

We  got  away  about  three  o'clock,  and,  after  fouling 
a  line  over  a  row  of  cascos  and  threatening  their  de- 
struction, sailed  down  the  Pasig  and  out  into  the  Bay. 
We  passed  Corregidor  about  sunset,  met  a  heavy  sea 
and  stiff  wind  outside,  and  I  retired  from  society. 
This  was  Saturday  night.  On  Sunday  noon  we  cast 
anchor  in  the  lovely  harbor  of  Romblon,  and,  defying 
sickness,  I  came  on  deck  to  admire. 

The  harbor  at  Romblon  resembles  a  lake  guarded 
by  mountains  which  are  covered  with  cocoanut  trees 
clear  to  their  summits.  At  one  end  —  the  end  toward 
the  entrance,  which  no  unfamiliar  eye  can  detect  —  a 
great  plateau  mountain  called  Tablas  stretches  across 
the  view  in  lengthened  bulk  like  the  sky-line  of  some 
submarine  upheaval.  The  waters  are  gayly  colored, 
shadowed  into  exquisite  greens  by  the  plumy  moun- 
tains above ;  and  in  a  little  valley  lies  the  white  town 
of  Romblon  with  its  squat  municipal  buildings,  its  gray 
old  church,  and  a  graceful  campanile  rising  from  a 
grassy  plaza.  They  have  dammed  a  mountain  stream, 
so  that  the  town  is  bountifully  supplied  with  pure  cold 
water,  and  with  its  clean  streets  and  whitewashed 
buildings,  it  is  a  most  attractive  place. 

The  inhabitants  of  Romblon  were  eager  to  sell  us 
mats,  or  petates,  the  making  of  which  is  a  special  in- 
dustry there.  Their  prices  had  suffered  the  rise  which 
is  an  inevitable  result  of  American  occupation,  and 
were  quite  beyond  our  means.    I  succeeded  afterwards 


64       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

in  getting  some  Romblon  mats  through  a  Filipino 
friend  for  about  one-fifth  the  price  asked  that  day. 

Our  stay  at  Romblon  was  not  lengthy.  We  got  out 
some  time  in  the  late  afternoon,  and  proceeded  on  our 
way.  I  cannot  remember  whether  we  occupied  all  that 
night  and  the  next  day  in  getting  down  to  Iloilo  or 
whether  we  made  Iloilo  in  twelve  hours.  I  do  remem- 
ber the  night  trip  down  the  east  coast  of  Panay,  with 
Negros  on  the  invisible  left,  and  all  about  us  a  ^hain 
of  little  islands  where  the  fisher  folk  were  engaged  in 
their  night  work  of  spearing  fish  by  torchlight.  Dim 
mountainous  shapes  would  rise  out  of  the  sea  and 
loom  vaguely  in  the  starlit  distance,  the  curving 
beaches  at  their  bases  outlined  by  the  torches  in  the 
bancas  till  they  looked  like  boulevards  with  their  lines 
of  flickering  lamps.  I  remember  that  we  fell  to  singing, 
and  that  after  we  had  sung  everything  we  knew,  an 
officer  of  the  First  Infantry  who  was  going  back  to 
his  regiment  after  a  wound  and  a  siege  in  hospital 
said  enthusiastically :  "  Oh,  don't  stop.  You  don't  know 
how  it  sounds  to  hear  a  whole  lot  of  American  men  and 
women  singing  together." 

It  was  somewhere  between  ten  and  midnight  when  a 
light  flashed  ahead,  and  beyond  it  lay  a  little  maze  of 
twinkles  that  they  said  was  Iloilo.  The  anchor  chains 
ran  out  with  a  clang  and  rattle,  for  our  Spanish  cap- 
tain took  no  chances,  and  would  not  pick  his  way 
through  the  Siete  Pecadores  at  night. 

The  Siete  Pecadores,  or  Seven  Sinners,  are  a  group 
of  islands,  or  rocks  —  for  they  amount  to  little  more 
than  that  —  some  six  miles  north  of  Iloilo,  just  at  the 


FROM  MANILA    TO   CAPIZ  65 

head  of  Guimaras  Strait.  On  the  east  the  long,  nar- 
row island  of  Guimaras,  hilly  and  beautifully  wooded, 
lies  like  a  wedge  between  Panay  and  Negros.  Beyond 
it  the  seven-thousand-foot  volcano,  Canlaon,  on  Ne- 
gros, lifts  a  purple  head.  On  the  west  lies  the  swampy 
foreshore  of  Panay  with  a  mountain  range  inland, 
daring  the  sunlight  with  scarpy  flanks,  on  which  every 
ravine  and  every  cleft  are  sunk  in  shadows  of  violet  and 
pink.  The  water  of  the  straits  is  glassy  and  full  of 
jelly-fish,  some  of  the  white  dome-like  kind,  but  more 
of  the  purple  ones  that  float  on  the  water  like  a  petalled 
flower. 

Iloilo  was  a  miniature  edition  of  Manila,  save  that 
there  were  more  gardens  and  that  there  was  a  rural 
atmosphere  such  as  is  characteristic  of  small  towns  in 
the  States.  The  toy  horses  and  the  toy  carromatos 
and  quilices  were  there,  and  the  four-horse  wagons 
with  a  staring  "U.  S."  on  their  blue  sides.  There  were 
the  same  dusky  crowds  in  transparent  garments,  the 
soldiers  in  khaki,  the  bugle  calls,  and  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  fluttering  from  all  the  public  buildings. 

As  Iloilo  was  not  well  supplied  with  hotels,  we 
women  were  barracked  in  a  new  house  belonging  to 
the  American  Treasurer,  whose  family  had  not  yet 
arrived  from  the  States.  We  found  our  old  friend, 
the  army  cot,  borrowed  from  the  military  quarter- 
master. There  was  a  sitting-room  well  equipped  with 
chairs  and  tables.  Our  meals  were  obtained  from  a 
neighboring  boarding-house  which  rejoiced  in  the  name 
"  American  Restaurant,"  and  was  kept  by  a  Filipina. 
She  was  a  good  soul,  and  had  learned  how  to  make 


66       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

cocoanut  balls,  so  that  we  bade  a  glad  adieu  to  the 
bananas  and  guava  jelly. 

Our  own  particular  waitress  was  a  ten-year-old  child, 
who  said  "hello  "  and  smoked  a  cigar  as  long  as  herself. 
In  a  moment  of  enthusiasm  one  of  our  number  who 
was  interested  in  temperance  and  its  allied  reforms 
tipped  Basilia  a  whole  Mexican  media-peseta.  When 
the  reformer  became  aware  of  Basilia's  predilection  for 
the  weed,  she  wanted  her  media-peseta  back,  but  Ba- 
silia was  too  keen  a  financier  for  that.  The  media- 
peseta  was  hers  —  given  in  the  presence  of  witnesses 
—  and  she  somewhat  ostentatiously  blew  smoke  rings 
when  she  found  the  reformer's  eye  fixed  upon  her. 

At  Iloilo  we  picked  up  the  word  tao,  which  means 
"man,"  especially  "laboring  man,"  for  the  Filipinos 
usually  fall  back  upon  the  Spanish  words  caballero  and 
senor  to  designate  the  fortunate  individuals  whose 
hands  are  unstained  with  toil.  We  had  picked  up' the 
vernacular  of  the  street  carromato  in  Manila.  This 
is  very  simple.  It  consists  of  signs,  para,  derecho, 
mano,  and  silla.  For  the  benefit  of  such  readers 
as  do  not  understand  pidgin  Spanish,  it  may  be  ex- 
plained that  these  words  signify,  respectively,  "go 
on,"  "stop,"  "straight  ahead,"  "to  the  right,"  and 
"to  the  left."  The  words  mano  and  silla  mean 
really  "hand"  and  "saddle";  I  have  been  told  that 
they  are  linguistic  survivals  of  the  days  when 
women  rode  on  pillions  and  the  fair  incubus  indicated 
that  she  wished  to  turn  either  to  the  side  of  her  right 
hand  or  to  the  skirt  side. 

By  this  time  we  had  begun  to  understand  —  just 


FROM  MANILA    TO   CAPIZ  67 

to  understand  in  infinitely  small  proportion  —  what 
the  old  resident  Americans  meant  when  they  joked 
about  the  Philippines  as  a  manana  country.  When  we 
inquired  when  a  boat  would  be  in,  the  reply  was 
"Seguro  manana' '  —  " To-morrow  for  sure."  When 
would  it  leave?  "Seguro  manana."  Nothing  annoys 
or  embarrasses  a  Filipino  more  than  the  American- 
habit  of  railing  at  luck  or  of  berating  the  unfortunate 
purveyor  of  disappointing  news,  or,  in  fact,  of  insisting 
on  accurate  information  if  it  can  be  obtained.  They 
are  ready  to  say  anything  at  a  minute's  notice.  A 
friend  of  mine  in  Ilocos  Norte  once  lost  a  ring,  and 
asked  her  servant  if  he  knew  anything  about  it.  The 
boy  replied  instantly,  "  Seguro  rat  on,"  which  is  an 
elliptical  form  of  "  Surely  a  rat  ate  it. "  The  boy  had 
not  stolen  the  ring,  but  he  jumped  at  anything  to 
head  off  complaint  or  investigation. 

Time  is  apparently  of  no  value  in  the  Philippines. 
On  the  second  day  of  our  stay  in  Iloilo  the  Treasurer 
sent  up  two  pieces  of  furniture  for  our  use,  a  wardrobe 
and  a  table.  They  were  delivered  just  before  lunch, 
about  ten  o'clock,  and  the  Treasurer  would  not  be  at 
home  to  sign  for  them  till  nearly  one.  When  I  came 
in  from  a  shopping  expedition,  I  found  eight  or  ten 
taos  sitting  placidly  on  their  heels  in  the  front  yard, 
while  the  two  pieces  of  new  furniture  were  lying  in  the 
mud  just  as  they  had  been  dumped  when  the  bearers 
eased  their  shoulders  from  the  poles.  The  noonday 
heat  waxed  fiercer,  and  the  Treasurer  was  delayed,  but 
nobody  displayed  any  impatience.  The  men  contin- 
ued to  sit  on  their  heels,  to  chew  their  betel  nut,  and 


68       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

to  smoke  their  cigars,  and,  I  verily  believe,  would  have 
watched  the  sun  set  before  they  would  have  left.  In 
an  hour  or  so  the  Treasurer  appeared,  and  settled  the 
account,  the  taos  picked  up  the  furniture  and  deposited 
it  in  the  house,  and  the  object  lesson  was  over. 

In  spite  of  shopping,  time  hung  somewhat  heavy  on 
•our  hands  at  Iloilo.  We  made  few  acquaintances,  for 
there  were  few  civilian  women,  and  the  army  ladies, 
so  we  were  informed,  looked  askance  at  schoolteachers, 
and  had  determined  that  we  were  not  to  be  admitted 
into  "society."  The  army  nurses  asked  us  to  five 
o'clock  tea,  and  we  went  and  enjoyed  it.  They  were, 
for  the  most  part,  gentlewomen  born,  and  the  self- 
sacrifice  of  their  daily  lives  had  accentuated  their  na- 
tive refinement.  I  have  few  remembrances  more  pleas- 
ant than  those  of  the  half-hour  we  spent  in  their  cool 
sala.  As  for  the  tea  they  gave  us  and  the  delicious 
toast,  mere  words  are  inadequate  •  to  describe  them. 
We  became  sensible  that  the  art  of  cooking  had  not 
vanished  from  the  earth.  After  the  garbanzos  and  the 
bescochos  and  the  guava  jelly,  how  good  they  tasted ! 

In  the  course  of  two  or  three  days  we  were  notified 
that  the  vapor  General  Blanco  would  leave  for  Capiz 
on  Saturday  at  five  p.  m.,  and  some  ten  or  twelve  of 
us,  destined  for  the  province  of  that  name,  made  ready 
to  depart.  I  was  the  only  woman  in  the  party,  but 
our  Division  Superintendent,  who  was  personally  con- 
ducting us  and  who  was  having  some  little  difficulty 
with  his  charges,  assured  me  that  I  was  a  deal  less 
worry  to  him  than  some  of  the  men  were.  I  told  him 
that  I  was  quite  equal  to  getting  myself  and  my  lug- 


FROM  MANILA   TO   CAPIZ  69 

gage  aboard  the  Blanco.  I  had  employed  a  native 
servant  who  said  he  knew  how  to  cook,  and  I  was 
taking  him  up  to  Capiz  with  an  eye  to  future  comfort. 
Romoldo  went  out  and  got  a  carabao  cart,  heaping  it 
with  my  trunks,  deck  chair,  and  boxes.  I  followed  in 
a  quilez,  and  we  rattled  down  to  the  wharf  in  good  time. 
The  General  Blanco  was  not  of  a  size  to  make  her 
conspicuous,  and  I  reflected  that,  if  there  had  been 
another  stage  to  the  journey  and  a  proportional  shrink- 
age in  the  vessel,  it  surely  would  have  had  to  be  accom- 
plished in  a  scow.  Although  by  no  means  palatial, 
the  Buford  was  a  fair-sized,  ocean-going  steamer.  The 
Francisco  Reyes  was  a  dirty  old  tub  with  pretensions 
to  the  contrary ;  and  the  General  Blanco  —  well,  met- 
aphorically speaking,  the  General  Blanco  was  a  coal 
scuttle.  She  was  a  supercilious-looking  craft,  sitting 
at  a  rakish  angle,  her  engines  being  aft.  She  had  a 
freeboard  of  six  or  seven  feet,  and  possessed  neither 
cabin  nor  staterooms,  the  space  between  the  super- 
structure and  the  rail  being  about  three  feet  wide. 
You  could  stay  there,  or,  if  you  did  not  incommode 
the  engineer,  you  could  go  inside  and  sit  on  a  coal 
pile.  There  was  a  bridge  approached  by  a  rickety 
stair,  and  I  judged  that  my  deck  chair  would  fill  it 
completely,  leaving  about  six  inches  for  the  captain's 
promenade.  Behind  the  superstructure  there  was  a  sort 
of  after-deck,  nearly  four  feet  of  it.  When  my  trunks 
and  boxes  had  been  piled  up  there,  with  the  deck 
chair  balancing  precariously  atop,  and  with  Romoldo 
reclining  luxuriously  in  it,  his  distraught  pompadour 
was  about  on  a  level  with  the  top  of  the  smokestack. 


70       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

I  really  did  n't  see  any  room  aboard  for  me,  and 
sat  down  on  a  hemp  bale  to  consider.  Shortly  after, 
the  Division  Superintendent  arrived,  accompanied  by 
several  young  men.  He  looked  blank,  and  they  whis- 
tled. Then  he  went  on  board  to  talk  with  the  captain, 
while  his  assembled  charges  continued  to  ornament  the 
hemp  bales.  Filipinos  of  all  ages  and  sizes  gathered 
round  to  stare  and  to  comment. 

At  last  the  Division  Superintendent  came  back  with 
the  information  that  the  Blanco  would  tow  up  a  lorcha 
which  was  lying  a  little  distance  down  the  river,  and 
that  we  should  find  her  a  roomier  and  cooler  means  of 
transportation  than  the  steamer.  "Lorcha"  is  the 
name  given  to  the  local  sailing  vessels.  Our  lorcha 
was  about  sixty  feet  long,  and,  according  to  one  of  the 
teachers  who  had  once  seen  Lake  Michigan,  was 
"  schooner  rigged."  There  was  a  deck  house  aft,  which 
was  converted  into  a  stateroom  for  me.  There  were 
two  bunks  in  it,  each  of  which  I  declined  to  patronize. 
Instead  I  had  my  steamer  chair  brought  over,  and 
found  there  was  plenty  of  room  for  it.  There  were 
little  sliding  windows,  which  with  the  open  door  af- 
forded fairly  decent  ventilation.  But  the  helm  was 
just  behind  the  deck  house,  and  the  helmsman  either 
sat  or  stood  on  the  roof,  so  that  all  night  his  responses 
to  the  steersman  on  the  Blanco  interfered  with  my 
sleep.  Then,  too,  they  kept  their  spare  lanterns  and 
their  cocoanut  oil  and  some  coils  of  rope  in  there.  At 
intervals  soft-footed  natives  came  in,  and  I  was  never 
certain  whether  it  was  to  slay  me  or  to  get  some  of 
their  stores.    Once  a  figure  blocked  out  the  starlight 


FROM  MANILA    TO   CAPIZ  71 

at  one  of  the  windows,  and  I  heard  a  rustling  and 
shuffling  on  the  shelf  where  my  food  tins  were 
piled.  So  I  said,  "Sigue!  Vamos!"  and  the  figure 
disappeared. 

The  men  opened  their  army  cots  on  the  forward 
deck,  where  the  big  sail  cut  them  off  from  the  rest  of 
the  ship.  The  next  morning  they  reported  a  fine  night's 
rest.  I  could  not  make  so  felicitous  a  report,  for  my 
stateroom  was  considerably  warmer  than  the  open  air, 
and  a  steamer  chair,  though  comfortable  by  day,  does 
not  make  an  acceptable  bed. 

We  breakfasted  from  our  private  stores,  and  I  found 
myself  longing  for  hot  coffee,  instead  of  which  I  had 
to  drink  evaporated  milk  diluted  with  mineral  water. 
The  day  was  sunny,  the  heat  beat  fiercely  off  the 
water,  and  I  burned  abominably.  Near  noon  we 
sighted  a  town  close  to  the  coast,  and  knew  that  we 
were  nearing  our  journey's  end. 

We  skirted  the  horn  of  a  crescent-shaped  bay,  found 
a  river's  mouth,  and  entered.  Here  at  least  was  the 
tropical  scene  of  my  imagination  —  a  tide-swollen  cur- 
rent, its  marshy  banks  covered  with  strange  foliage,  and 
innumerable  water  lanes  leading  out  of  it  into  palmy 
depths.  Down  these  lanes  came  bancas,  sometimes 
with  a  single  occupant  paddling  at  the  stern,  sometimes 
with  a  whole  family  sitting  motionless  on  their  heels. 
Once  we  passed  the  ruins  of  what  had  been  a  sugar 
mill  or  a  bino  factory  —  probably  the  latter.  Then  the 
Blanco,  puffing  ahead,  whistled  twice,  we  rounded  a 
curve  and  came  full  upon  the  town. 

Though  subsequent  familiarity  has  brought  to  my 


72       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

notice  many  details  that  I  then  overlooked,  that  first 
impression  was  the  one  of  greatest  charm,  and  the  one 
I  love  best  to  remember.  There  were  the  great,  square, 
white-painted,  red-tiled  houses  lining  both  banks  of 
the  river ;  the  picturesque  groups  beating  their  clothes 
on  the  flat  steps  which  led  down  to  the  water ;  and  the 
sprawling  wooden  bridge  in  the  distance  where  the 
stream  made  an  abrupt  sweep  to  the  right. 

On  the  left  of  the  bridge  was  a  grassy  plaza  shaded 
with  almond  trees,  a  stately  church,  several  squat 
stone  buildings  which  I  knew  for  jail  and  municipal 
quarters,  and  a  flag  staff  with  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
whipping  the  breeze  from  its  top.  Over  all  hung  a  sky 
dazzlingly  blue  and  an  atmosphere  crystal  clear.  Back 
of  the  town  a  low  unforested  mountain  heaved  a  grassy 
shoulder  above  the  palms,  and  far  off  there  was  a  violet 
tracery  of  more  mountains. 

I  knew  that  I  should  like  Capiz. 


CHAPTER  SEVEN 

MY  FIRST  EXPERIENCES  AS  A  TEACHER  OF  FILIPINOS 

After  resting  in  a  Saloon  I  arrive  at  my  Lodging  —  I  at- 
tend an  Evening  Party  —  Filipino  Babies  —  I  take  Tem- 
porary Charge  of  the  Boys'  School  —  How  the  Opening 
of  the  Girls'  School  was  announced  —  Curiosity  of  the 
Natives  regarding  the  New  School  —  Difficulty  of 
securing  Order  at  first. 

THE  municipality  of  Capiz  was  expecting  a 
woman  teacher,  for  cries  of  "La  maestra!" 
began  to  resound  before  the  boat  was  properly 
snubbed  up  to  the  bank ;  and  when  I  walked  ashore  on 
a  plank  ten  inches  wide,  there  had  already  assembled 
a  considerable  crowd  to  witness  that  feat.  They  gath- 
ered round  and  continued  to  stare  when  I  was  seated 
in  the  principal  saloon.  Meanwhile  a  messenger  was 
sent  to  find  the  American  man  teacher,  who  had  been 
notified  by  telegram  to  arrange  for  my  accommodation. 
The  saloon  was  a  very  innocent-looking  one,  so  that  I 
mistook  it  for  a  grocery  storeroom.  Such  as  it  was, 
it  represented  the  best  the  Filipinos  could  do  in  the 
saloon  line.  One  sees,  in  Manila  and,  for  that  matter, 
all  up  and  down  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  coasts,  the 
typical  groggery  of  America  with  somebody's  " Place' ' 
printed  large  over  the  entrance,  and  a  painted  screen 
blocking  the  doorway  with  its  suggestions  of  unseem- 
liness.    But  the  provincial  saloon  is  still  essentially 


74       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

Spanish  —  a  clean,  light  room  with  no  reservations,  the 
array  of  bottles  on  the  shelves  smiling  down  on  the 
little  green  cloth-covered  tables  where  the  domino  and 
card  games  go  on.  There  may  be  an  ancient  billiard 
table  in  one  corner  with  its  accompanying  cue  rack,  and 
there  is  almost  sure  to  be  a  little  liole  in  the  ceiling 
through  which  the  proprietor's  wife,  who  resides  above, 
can  peep  down  and  watch  the  card  games.  It  is  a  gen- 
uine family  resort,  too,  for  between  four  and  seVen  all 
the  town  is  likely  to  drop  in,  the  women  chaffering  or 
gossiping  while  their  lords  enjoy  a  glass  of  beer  and 
a  game  of  dominoes. 

The  proprietor's  wife  must  have  had  a  fine  look  at  me 
as  I  sat  mopping  my  sunburned  face.  At  last  the  Amer- 
ican teacher  came,  a  pleasant-faced  young  man  who 
spoke  Spanish  excellently  and  was  quite  an  adept  at 
the  vernacular.  In  due  time  I  was  ushered  into  a 
room  in  a  house  on  the  far  side  of  the  river,  the  window 
of  which  commanded  a  fine  view  of  the  bridge,  the 
plaza,  the  gray  old  church,  and  the  jail,  with  the  ex- 
citements of  guard  mount  and  retreat  thrown  in. 

The  room  had  a  floor  of  boards,  each  one  of  which  was 
at  least  two  feet  wide.  They  were  rudely  nailed  and 
were  separated  by  dirt-filled  cracks,  but  were  polished 
into  a  dark  richness  by  long  rubbing  with  petroleum 
and  banana  leaves.  The  furnishings  consisted  of  a 
wardrobe,  a  table,  a  washstand,  several  chairs,  and 
a  Filipino  four-poster  bed  with  a  mattress  of  plaited 
rattan  such  as  we  find  in  cane-seated  chairs.  A  snow- 
white  valence  draped  the  bed.  The  mattress  was  cov- 
ered with  a  petate,  or  native  mat,  and  there  were  two 


FIRST  EXPERIENCES  75 

pillows  —  a  big,  fat,  bolstery  one,  and  another,  called 
abrazador,  which  is  used  for  a  leg-rest. 

I  bathed  in  the  provincial  bathroom.  Manila,  being 
the  metropolis  of  the  Philippines,  has  running  water 
and  the  regular  tub  and  shower  baths  in  tiled  rooms. 
The  Capiz  bathroom  had  a  floor  of  bamboo  strips  which 
kept  me  constantly  in  agony  lest  somebody  should  stray 
beneath,  and  which  even  made  me  feel  apologetic  toward 
the  pigs  rooting  below.  There  was  a  tinaja,  or  earthen- 
ware jar,  holding  about  twenty  gallons  of  water,  and  a 
dipper  made  of  a  polished  cocoanut  shell.  I  poured 
water  over  my  body  till  the  contents  of  the  tinaja  were 
exhausted  and  I  was  cool.  Already  I  was  beginning  to 
look  upon  a  bath  from  the  native  standpoint  as  a 
means  of  coolness,  and  incidentally  of  cleanliness. 

When  I  got  back  to  my  room,  my  hostess  and  her 
sister  came  and  sat  with  me  while  I  unpacked  my 
trunk  and  applied  cold  cream  to  my  sunburnt  skin. 
They  were  afraid  that  I  should  be  triste  because  I  was 
so  far  from  home  and  alone,  and  they  inquired  if  I 
wanted  a  woman  servant  to  sleep  in  my  room  at  night. 
I  was  quite  unconscious  that  this  was  an  effort  to 
rehabilitate  their  conception  of  the  creature  feminine 
and  the  violated  proprieties;  and  my  indignant  dis- 
claimer of  anything  bordering  on  nervousness  did  not 
raise  me  in  their  estimation. 

They  left  me  finally  in  time  to  permit  me  to  dress  and 
gain  the  sala  when  the  bugles  sounded  retreat.  The 
atmosphere  was  golden-moted  —  swimming  in  the  in- 
comparable amber  of  a  tropical  evening.  The  river 
slipped  along,  giving  the  sense  of  rest  and  peace  which 


76       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

water  in  shadow  always  imparts,  and  as  the  long-drawn- 
out  notes  were  caught  and  flung  back  by  the  echo  from 
the  mountains,  the  flag  fluttered  down  as  if  reluctant  to 
leave  so  gentle  a  scene.  When  the  "Angelus"  rang 
just  afterwards,  it  was  as  if  some  benignant  fairy  had 
waved  her  wand  over  the  land  to  hold  it  at  its  sweetest 
moment.  The  criss-crossing  crowds  on  the  plaza 
paused  for  a  reverent  moment ;  the  people  in  the  room 
stood  up,  and  when  the  bell  stopped  ringing,  said 
briskly  to  me  and  to  one  another,  "Good  evening." 
Then  the  members  of  the  family  approached  its  oldest 
representative  and  kissed  his  hand.  It  was  all  very 
pretty  and  very  effective. 

Afterwards  we  went  out  for  a  walk  —  at  least  they 
invited  me  to  go  for  a  walk,  though  it  was  a  party  to 
which  we  were  bound.  Filipinos,  being  devout  Cath- 
olics, have  a  fashion  of  naming  their  children  after  the 
saints,  and,  instead  of  celebrating  the  children's  birth- 
days, celebrate  the  saints'  days.  As  there  is  a  saint  for 
every  day  in  the  year,  and  some  to  spare,  and  it  is  a 
point  of  pride  with  every  one  of  any  social  pretension 
whatever  to  be  at  home  to  his  friends  on  his  patron 
saint's  day,  and  to  do  that  which  we  vulgarly  term  "set 
'em  up"  most  liberally,  there  is  more  social  diversion 
going  on  in  a  small  Filipino  town  than  would  be  found 
in  one  of  corresponding  size  in  America.  At  these 
functions  the  crowd  is  apt  to  be  thickest  from  four  till 
eight,  the  official  calling  hours  in  the  Philippines. 

Starting  out,  therefore,  at  half-past  six,  we  found  the 
parlors  of  the  house  well  thronged.  At  the  head  of 
the  stairs  was  a  sort  of  anteroom  filled  with  men  smok- 


FIRST  EXPERIENCES  77 

ing.  This  antesala,  as  they  call  it,  gave  on  the  sala,  or 
drawing-room  proper,  which  was  a  large  apartment 
lighted  by  a  hanging  chandelier  of  cut  glass,  holding 
about  a  dozen  petroleum  lamps.  Two  rows  of  chairs, 
facing  each  other,  were  occupied  by  ladies  in  silken 
skirts  of  brilliant  hues,  and  in  camisas  and  panuelos  of 
delicate  embroidered  or  hand-painted  fina.  We  made 
a  solemn  entry,  and  passed  up  the  aisle  doing  a  sort  of 
Roger  de  Coverley  figure  in  turning  first  to  one  side  and 
then  to  the  other  to  shake  hands.  No  names  were  men- 
tioned. Our  hostess  said,  by  way  of  general  announce- 
ment, "La  maestra,"  and  having  started  me  up  the 
maze  left  me  to  unwind  myself.  So  I  zigzagged  along 
with  a  hand-shake  and  a  decorous  "  Buenos  noches  "  to 
everybody  till  I  found  myself  at  the  end  of  the  line  at 
an  open  window.  Here  one  of  those  little  oblong  tables, 
across  which  the  Filipinos  are  fond  of  talking,  sepa- 
rated me  from  a  lady,  unquestionably  of  the  white  races, 
who  received  the  distinction  of  personal  mention.  She 
was  "la  Gobernadora"  and  her  husband,  a  fat  Chino 
mestizo,  was  immediately  brought  forward  and  intro- 
duced as  "el  Gobemador."  He  was  a  man  of  education 
and  polish,  having  spent  fourteen  years  in  school  in 
Spain,  where  he  married  his  wife.  After  having  wel- 
comed me  properly,  he  betook  himself  to  the  room  at 
the  head  of  the  stairs  where  the  men  were  congregated. 
A  fat  native  priest  in  a  greasy  old  cassock  seemed  the 
centre  of  jollity  there,  and  he  alternately  joked  with  the 
men  and  stopped  to  extend  his  hand  to  the  children 
who  went  up  and  kissed  it. 
I  did  my  best  to  converse  intelligently  with  the 


78       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

Gobernadora  and  the  other  ladies  who  were  within  con- 
versational distance.  A  band  came  up  outside  and 
played  "Just  One  Girl,"  and  presently  one  of  the 
ladies  of  the  house  invited  the  Governor's  wife  and  me 
to  partake  of  sweets.  We  went  out  to  the  dining-room, 
where  a  table  was  laid  with  snow-white  cloth,  and 
prettily  decorated  with  flowers  and  with  crystal  dishes 
containing  goodies. 

There  were,  first  of  all,  meringues,  which  We  call 
French  kisses,  the  favorite  sweet  here.  There  was 
also  flam,  which  we  would  call  baked  custard.  In  the 
absence  of  ovens  they  do  not  bake  it,  but  they  boil  it  in 
a  mould  like  an  ice-cream  brick.  They  line  the  mould 
with  caramel,  and  the  custard  comes  out  golden  brown, 
smooth  as  satin,  and  delicately  flavored  with  the  cara- 
mel. Then  there  was  nata,  which  is  like  boiled  custard 
unboiled,  and  there  were  all  sorts  of  crystallized  fruits 
—  pineapple,  lemon,  orange,  and  citron,  together  with 
that  peculiar  one  they  call  santol.  There  were  also  the 
transparent,  jelly-like  seeds  of  the  nipa  palm,  boiled  in 
syrup  till  they  looked  like  magnified  balls  of  sago  or 
tapioca. 

I  partook  of  these  rich  delicacies,  though  my  soul 
was  hungering  for  a  piece  of  broiled  steak,  and  I  ac- 
cepted a  glass  of  muscatel,  which  is  the  accepted  ladies' 
wine  here.  My  hostesses  were  eager  that  I  should  try 
all  kinds  of  foods,  and  a  refusal  to  accept  met  with  a 
protest,  "Otra  clase,  otra  clase."  Then  the  Goberna- 
dora and  I  went  back  to  the  sala,  and  another  group 
took  our  places  at  the  refreshment  table. 

I  was  much  interested  in  the  babies,  who  were  strut- 


FIRST  EXPERIENCES  79 

ting  about  in  their  finest  raiment  and  were  unques- 
tionably annoyed  at  its  restrictions.  Filipino  babies 
are  sharp-eyed,  black-polled,  attractive  little  creatures. 
Whether  of  high  or  low  degree,  their  ordinary  dress  is 
adapted  to  the  climate,  and  consists  usually  of  a  single 
low-necked  garment,  which  drapes  itself  picturesquely 
across  the  shoulders  like  the  cloaks  of  Louis  the  Four- 
teenth's time  seen  on  the  stage. 

On  state  occasions,  however,  they  are  inducted  into 
raiment  which  their  deluded  mothers  fancy  is  European 
and  stylish;  but  there  is  always  something  wrong. 
Either  one  little  ruffled  drawers  leg  sags  down,  or  the 
petticoat  is  longer  than  the  dress  skirt,  or  the  waist- 
band is  too  tight,  or  mamma  has  failed  to  make  allow- 
ance in  the  underclothing  for  the  gauziness  of  the  outer 
sheathing.  As  for  the  sashes  with  which  the  victims 
are  finally  bound,  they  fret  the  little  swelled  stomachs, 
and  the  baby  goes  about  tugging  at  his  undesirable 
adornment,  and  wearing  the  frown  of  one  harassed 
past  endurance.  Sometimes  it  ends  in  flat  mutiny, 
and  baby  is  shorn  of  his  grandeur,  and  prances  inno- 
cently back  into  the  heart  of  society,  clad  in  a  com- 
bination of  waist  and  drawers  which  is  associated  in 
my  memory  with  cotton  flannel  and  winter  nights. 
Nobody  is  at  all  embarrassed  by  the  negligee;  and  as 
for  the  baby  himself,  he  would  appear  in  the  garments 
of  Eve  before  the  Fall  without  a  qualm. 

After  everybody  had  been  served  with  sweets,  a 
young  Filipina  was  led  to  the  piano.  She  played  with 
remarkable  technique  and  skill.  Another  young  lady 
sang  very  badly.    Filipinos  have  natural  good  taste  in 


80       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

music,  have  quick  musical  ears,  and  a  natural  sense 
of  time,  but  they  have  voices  of  small  range  and  com- 
pass, and  what  voice  they  have  they  misuse  shame- 
fully. They  also  undertake  to  sing  music  altogether 
too  difficult  for  any  but  professionals. 

When  the  music  was  over,  I  was  rather  anxiously 
anticipating  a  "recitation,"  but  was  overjoyed  to  dis- 
cover that  that  resource  of  rural  entertainment  -has  no 
foothold  in  the  Philippines.  Dancing  was  next  in  order. 
The  first  dance  was  the  stately  rigodon,  which  is  almost 
the  only  square  dance  used  here.  When  it  was  finished 
and  a  waltz  had  begun,  I  insisted  on  going  home, 
for  I  was  tired  out.  Somebody  loaned  us  a  victoria,  and 
thus  the  trip  was  short.  A  deep-mouthed  bell  in  the 
church  tower  rang  out  ten  slow  strokes  as  I  threw  back 
the  shutters  after  putting  out  my  light.  The  military 
bugles- took  up  the  sound  with  "taps,"  and  the  figure 
of  the  sentry  on  the  bridge  was  a  moving  patch  of  black 
in  the  moonlight. 

The  Division  Superintendent  started  inland  the  next 
morning  to  place  the  men  teachers  in  their  stations, 
and  as  he  required  the  services  of  the  American  teacher 
in  interpreting,  I  was  told  to  go  over  and  take  charge 
of  the  boys'  school,  at  that  time  the  only  one  organized. 

I  went  across  the  plaza  and  found  two  one-story 
buildings  of  stone  with  an  American  flag  floating  over 
one,  and  a  noise  which  resembled  the  din  of  a  boiler 
factory  issuing  from  it.  The  noise  was  the  vociferous 
outcry  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-nine  Filipino  youths 
engaged  in  study  or  at  least  in  a  high,  throaty  clamor, 
over  and  over  again,  of  their  assigned  lessons.    When 


FIRST  EXPERIENCES  81 

I  went  in,  they  rose  electrically,  and  shrieked  as  by  one 
impulse,  "Good  morning,  modham."  They  were  so 
delighted  at  my  surprise  at  their  facility  with  English 
that  they  gave  it  to  me  over  and  over  again,  and  I  saw 
that  they  had  intuitions  of  three  cheers  and  a  tiger. 

When  I  had  explained  to  the  teacher  that  I  was  there 
to  relieve  him,  he  explained  it  to  the  boys,  and  they 
replied  with  the  same  unanimity  and  the  same  robust- 
ness of  voice,  "  Yis,  all  ri'  I"  So  he  went  away,  leaving 
me  in  charge  of  the  boiler  factory. 

It  stays  in  my  recollection  as  the  most  strenuous 
five  hours'  labor  I  ever  put  in.  Only  two  personalities 
were  impressive,  those  of  the  pupil  teacher  who  aided 
me,  and  who  has  since  graduated  from  the  University 
of  Michigan  (agricultural  department),  and  of  a  very 
small  boy  who  had  possessed  himself  of  a  wooden  box, 
once  the  receptacle  of  forty-eight  tins  of  condensed 
milk,  which  he  used  for  a  seat.  He  carried  the  box 
with  him  when  he  went  from  one  place  to  another,  and 
more  than  one  fight  was  generated  by  his  plutocracy. 
He  also  sang  "Suwanee  River "  in  a  clear  but  sweet 
nasal  voice,  and  was  evidently  regarded  as  the  show 
pupil  of  the  school. 

The  school  was  popular  not  only  with  boys  but  with 
goats.  Flocks  of  them  wandered  in,  coming  through 
the  doors  or  jumping  through  the  windows.  I  soon 
found  that  Filipino  children  are  more  matter-of-fact 
than  American  children.  Nobody  giggled  when  our  / 
four-footed  friends  came  in,  and  until  I  gave  an  order 
to  expel  them  their  presence  was  accepted  as  a  matter  of 
course.    When  I  suggested  putting  them  out,  I  found 

6 


82       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

the  Filipino  youth  ready  enough  at  rough  play.  The 
first  charge  nearly  swept  me  off  my  feet,  and  turned 
the  school  into  a  pandemonium.  After  that  the  goats 
were  allowed  to  assist  in  the  classes  at  their  pleasure. 

During  the  next  three  days,  what  with  the  labor  of 
school  and  the  fatigue  of  entertaining  most  of  the  popu- 
lation of  Capiz  during  calling  hours,  I  was  almost  worn 
out.  The  Division  Superintendent  came"  back  the 
latter  part  of  the  week,  and  the  Presidenle,  or  mayor, 
sent  out,  at  his  request,  a  bandillo  to  announce  the 
opening  of  a  girls'  school. 

The  bandillo  corresponds  to  the  colonial  institution 
of  the  town  crier.  It  consists  usually  of  three  native 
police,  armed  with  most  ferocious-looking  revolvers, 
and  preceded  by  a  temporary  guest  of  municipal  hos- 
pitality from  the  local  calabozo.  This  citizen,  generally 
ragged  and  dirty  and  smoking  a  big  cigar,  is  provided 
with  a  drum  which  he  beats  lustily.  The  people  flock 
to  doors  and  windows,  and  the  curious  and  the  little 
boys  and  girls  who  are  carrying  their  baby  relations 
cross  saddle  on  their  hips,  fall  in  behind  as  for  a  circus 
procession.  At  every  corner  they  stop,  and  the  middle 
policeman  reads  the  announcement  aloud  from  a  paper. 
Then  the  march  is  taken  up  again  by  those  who  desire 
to  continue,  and  the  rest  race  back  to  their  doorways  to 
wag  their  tongues  over  the  news.  The  bandillo  makes 
the  rounds  of  the  town  and  returns  to  the  municipal 
hall  whence  it  started.  The  prisoner  goes  back  to  jail, 
the  police  lay  aside  their  bloodthirsty  revolvers,  and 
such  is  the  rapidity  with  which  news  flies  in  the  Phil- 
ippines that,  in  a  little  more  than  twenty-four  hours, 


FIRST  EXPERIENCES  83 

the  essentials  of  the  bandillo  may  be  known  all  over 
the  province. 

In  spite  of  the  bandillo  I  waited  long  for  a  pupil  on 
the  day  of  opening  my  school.  My  little  friend  of  the 
milk  box  deserted  his  own  classes  and  stationed  himself 
at  my  door.  After  an  interminable  time  he  thrust  his 
head  inside  the  door  and  announced,  "One  pupil, 
letty." 

It  was  a  very  small  girl  in  a  long  skirt  with  a  train  a 
yard  long  and  with  a  gauzy  camisa  and  panuelo  —  a 
most  comical  little  caricature  of  womanhood.  She  was 
speechless  with  fright,  but  came  on  so  recklessly  that 
I  began  to  suspect  the  cause  of  her  determination.  It 
was,  in  truth,  behind  her,  as  my  groom  of  the  front 
yard  soon  let  me  know.  Again  the  elfin  face  and  the 
wiry  pompadour  leaned  round  the  door-jamb  —  "One 
more  pupil,  letty,  —  dthe  girl's  modther." 

But  she  was  not  a  pupil,  of  course,  and  she  had  only 
come  in  response  to  the  heart  promptings  of  mother- 
hood, white,  black,  or  brown,  to  talk  about  her  off- 
spring to  the  strange  woman  who  was  to  usurp  a 
mother's  place  with  her  so  many  hours  of  each  day. 
She  was  quite  as  voluble  as  American  mothers  are, 
and  her  daughter  was  quite  embarrassed  by  her  volu- 
bility. The  child  sat  stealing  frightened  glances  at  me 
and  resentful  ones  at  her  mother. 

Half  an  hour  later,  three  more  girls  came  in,  and  they 
continued  to  drop  in  during  the  rest  of  the  morning  till 
I  had  forty-five  enrolled.  Some  of  them  were  accom- 
panied by  their  dogs,  which  curled  up  under  the  benches 
without  disturbance.     Several  nursemaids  also  hap- 


84       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

pened  along  to  give  their  charges  a  peep  at  the  Ameri- 
can school,  and  a  crowd  of  citizens  peered  in  at  doors 
and  windows  and  made  audible  remarks  about  the  new 
institution. 

Within  a  few  days  the  enrolment  ran  up  to  one 
hundred  and  forty-nine.  As  this  was  too  large  a  body 
to  be  handled  by  me  alone,  the  teacher  of  Spanish  days 
was  brought  back  to  the  school,  pending  the  arri- 
val of  more  teachers  from  the  States.  She  was  a  plump, 
middle-aged  body  who  had  a  little  —  a  very  little  — 
English,  but  whose  ideas  of  discipline,  recitation,  and 
study  were  too  well  fixed  to  permit  of  accommodation 
to  our  methods.  She  was  unfailingly  polite  and  kind, 
though  I  could  see  that  she  was  often  harassed  by  the 
innovations  to  which  she  could  not  accustom  herself. 

The  school-house  was  one  immense  room,  and  one  of 
the  first  acts  of  the  Division  Superintendent  was  to 
set  in  motion  the  forces  which  should  separate  it  into 
three.  This  took  time.  First  the  Presidente  had  to 
approve,  and  the  town  council  to  act  on  his  suggestion. 
The  Municipal  Treasurer,  a  native  official,  had  to  cer- 
tify the  cost  to  the  Provincial  Treasurer,  an  American 
civil  appointee,  and  if  the  last-named  official  approved, 
the  council  could  make  the  appropriation  and  order 
the  work  done. 

Pending  these  changes,  the  Filipino  teacher  took  one 
end  of  the  room  and  I  the  other.  We  were  sufficiently 
far  apart  not  to  interfere  with  each  other's  recitations. 
In  order  that  all  the  pupils  should  have  their  reading 
and  grammar  recitations  under  my  personal  super- 
vision, we  changed  classes  at  intervals.    For  the  sake 


FIRST  EXPERIENCES  85 

of  the  drill,  I  made  the  children  move  from  one  part  of 
the  room  to  the  other,  instead  of  changing  with  the 
other  teacher  myself.  We  made  great  efforts  to  accom- 
plish this  movement  with  order  and  decorum,  but  the 
result  at  first  was  a  fizzle.  The  double  column  always 
began  to  move  with  dignity,  but  by  the  time  it  had 
advanced  ten  steps,  excitement  began  to  wax,  the 
march  became  a  hurry,  the  hurry  grew  to  a  rush,  and 
the  rush  ended  in  a  wild  scramble  for  front  seats.  One 
little  maid  in  particular  was  such  an  invariable  holder 
of  an  advantageous  position  that  my  curiosity  was 
aroused  to  see  how  she  did  it.  I  watched  her,  saw  her 
glistening  brown  body  —  perfectly  visible  through  the 
filmy  material  of  her  single  garment  —  dive  under  the 
last  row  of  seats  and  emerge  triumphant  at  the  front 
while  the  press  was  still  blocking  the  aisles. 

Disorder  and  excitement  were,  however,  mere  tem- 
porary conditions.  Under  repeated  admonition  and 
practice,  the  Filipino  children  moved  about  with  more 
order  and  regularity,  the  habit  of  studying  aloud  was 
overcome,  and  the  school  began  to  show  the  organiza- 
tion and  discipline  to  which  Americans  are  accustomed. 

The  hardest  thing  to  overcome  was  their  desire  to  aid 
me  in  matters  that  I  could  manage  better  alone.  If 
some  one  whispered  and  I  tapped  a  pencil,  instantly 
half  the  children  in  the  room  would  turn  around  and 
utter  the  hiss  with  which  they  invoke  silence,  or  else 
they  would  begin  to  scold  the  offender  in  the  vernacular. 
Such  acts  led,  of  course,  to  unutterable  confusion,  and 
I  had  no  little  trouble  in  putting  a  stop  to  them. 


J 


CHAPTER  EIGHT 

AN  ANALYSIS   OF  FILIPINO   CHARACTER 

American  Pupils  and  Filipino  Pupils  contrasted  —  The 
Filipinos'  Belief  that  they  are  highly  Developed  Musi- 
cians —  Their  Morbid  Sensitiveness  to  Criticism  —  Ex- 
planation of  their  Desire  for  Education  —  Their 
Belief  that  they  could  achieve  Great  Success  in  Man- 
ufactures, Arts,  and  Literature  if  left  to  govern 
themselves  —  their  lack  of  creative  ability  —  dll- 
ettanteism  of  leading  filipinos  —  manual  jealousies 
of  the  People  —  Lack  of  Real  Democratic  Spirit  in 
America  —  The  Pride  of  Filipino  Men  compared  to 
that  of  American  Women. 

SO  long  as  they  find  firmness  and  justice  in  the 
teacher,  Filipino  children  are  far  easier  to  disci- 
pline than  are  American  children.  At  the  first 
sign  of  weakness  in  the  teacher  or  in  the  Government 
which  is  behind  him,  they  are  infinitely  more  unruly 
and  arrogant  than  are  the  children  of  our  own  race. 
There  is,  in  even  the  most  truculent  American  child,  a 
sense  of  the  eternal  fitness  of  things  which  the  Filipino 
lacks.  American  children  are  restless  and  mischievous. 
They  are  on  the  alert  for  any  sign  of  overstepping  the 
limits  of  lawful  authority  on  the  part  of  the  teacher, 
and  they  have  no  compunctions  about  forcing  him  to 
recognize  that  he  rules  by  the  consent  of  the  governed, 
and  that  he  must  not  mistake  their  complaisance  for 


AN  ANALYSIS  OF  FILIPINO  CHARACTER      87 

servility.  On  the  other  hand,  they  have,  with  rare 
exceptions,  a  respect  for  the  value  of  a  teacher's  opin- 
ion in  the  subjects  which  he  teaches,  and  will  seldom 
contradict  or  oppose  him  in  matters  that  pertain 
wholly  to  learning.  A  class  of  American  children  which 
would  support  in  every  possible  way  one  of  their  num- 
ber in  defying  authority  would  not  hesitate  to  make 
that  same  companion's  life  a  burden  to  him  if  he  should 
set  up  his  own  opinion  on  abstract  matters  in  con- 
tradiction to  his  teacher's.  Except  when  a  teacher 
signally  proves  his  incapacity,  American  children  are 
willing  to  grant  the  broad  premise  that  he  knows  more 
than  they  do,  and  that,  if  he  does  not,  he  at  least  ought 
to  know  more.  Filipino  children  reverse  this  attitude. 
They  are  quite  docile,  seldom  think  of  disputing  au- 
thority as  applied  to  discipline,  but  they  will  naively 
cling  to  a  position  and  dispute  both  fact  and  philosophy 
in  the  face  of  quoted  authority,  or  explanation,  or  even 
of  sarcasm.  The  following  anecdote  illustrates  this 
peculiarity.  It  happened  in  my  own  school  and  is  at 
first  hand. 

One  of  the  American  teachers  was  training  a  Filipino 
boy  to  make  a  recitation.  The  boy  had  adopted  a 
plan  of  lifting  one  hand  in  an  impassioned  gesture, 
holding  it  a  moment,  and  of  letting  it  drop,  only  to 
repeat  the  movement  with  the  other  hand.  After  he 
had  prolonged  this  action,  in  spite  of  frequent  criti- 
cism, till  he  looked  like  a  fragment  of  the  ballet  of 
"  La  Poup6e, "  the  teacher  lost  patience. 

"Domingo,"  she  said,  "I  have  told  you  again  and 
again  not  to  make  those  pointless,  mechanical  ges- 


88       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

tures.  Why  do  you  do  it?  They  are  inappropriate  and 
artificial,  and  they  make  you  look  like  a  fool." 

Domingo  paused  and  contemplated  her  with  the 
pity  which  Filipinos  often  display  for  our  artistic 
inappreciativeness. 

"Madame,"  he  replied  in  a  pained  voice,  " you  sur- 
prise me.  Those  gestures  are  not  foolishness.  They  are 
talent.    I  thought  they  would  please  you." 

In  my  own  early  days  I  was  once  criticised  by  one 
of  the  young  ladies  of  Capiz  for  my  pronunciation  of 
the  letter  c  in  the  Spanish  word  ciudad.  I  replied 
that  my  giving  the  sound  of  th  to  the  letter  was 
correct  Spanish,  whereupon  she  advised  me  to  pay 
no  attention  to  the  Spanish  pronunciation,  as  the  Fili- 
pinos speak  better  Spanish  than  do  the  Spanish 
themselves.  What  she  meant  was  that  the  avoidance 
of  th  sounds  in  c  and  z,  which  the  Filipinos  invariably 
pronounce  like  s,  is  an  improvement  to  the  Spanish 
language.  I  imagined  some  of  that  young  lady's 
kindred  ten  years  later  arguing  to  prove  that  the  Fili- 
pino corruption  of  th  in  English  words  —  pronouncing 
"thirty"  as  "sirty,"  and  "thick"  as  "sick"  —  arguing 
that  such  English  is  superior  to  English  as  we  speak  it. 
Here  are  some  typically  mispronounced  English  sen- 
tences: "If  Maria  has  seben  fencils  and  see  loses  sree, 
see  will  hab  four  fencils  left,  and  if  her  moser  gibs  her 
eight  fencils,  see  will  hab  twel'  fencils  in  all."  Here  is 
another:  "Pedro  has  a  new  fair  of  voots."  Another: 
"If  one  fint  ob  binegar  costs  fi'  cents,  sree  fints  will 
cost  sree  times  fT  cents,  or  fikteen  cents."  It  would, 
I  think,  be  hard  to  convince  us  that  the  euphonic 


AN  ANALYSIS  OF  FILIPINO  CHARACTER      89 

changes  in  these  words  are  an  improvement  to  our 
language. 

Some  four  years  ago,  I  was  teaching  a  class  in  the 
Manila  School  of  Arts  and  Trades,  and  was  giving  some 
directions  about  the  word  form  of  English  sentences. 
I  advised  the  class  to  stick  to  simple  direct  sentences, 
since  they  would  never  have  any  use  for  a  literary  style 
in  English.  Some  six  or  eight  young  men  instantly 
dissented  from  this  proposition,  and  insisted  that  they 
were  capable  of  acquiring  the  best  literary  style.  Not 
one  of  them  could  have  written  a  page  of  clear,  gram- 
matical, idiomatic  English.  I  tried  to  make  it  clear  to 
them  that  literary  English  and  colloquial  English  are 
two  different  things,  and  that  what  they  needed  was 
plain,  precise  English  as  a  medium  of  exchange  in  busi- 
ness, and  I  said,  incidentally,  that  such  was  the  Eng- 
lish possessed  by  the  major  portion  of  the  English- 
speaking  race.  I  said  that  although  the  American 
nation  numbered  eighty  millions,  most  of  whom  were 
educated  and  able  to  make  an  intelligent  use  of  their 
language  in  conversation  or  in  writing,  the  percentage 
of  great  writers  and  speakers  always  had  been  small 
and  always  would  be  so. 

When  I  had  finished,  the  son  of  a  local  editor,  arose 
and  replied  as  follows :  "Yes,  madame,  what  you  say 
of  Americans  is  true.  But  we  are  different.  We  are 
a  literary  people.  We  are  only  eight  millions,  but  /■ 
we  have  hundreds  and  thousands  of  orators.  We  have 
the  literary  sense  for  all  languages." 

Nearly  thirty  years  ago,  when  I  was  a  pupil  in  the 
Kansas  City,  Missouri,  High  School,  the  stepson  of  a 


90       IMPRESSIONS   OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

United  States  Circuit  judge  made  a  brutally  rude  and 
insubordinate  reply  to  a  woman  teacher  who  said  to 
him,  in  reference  to  an  excuse  which  he  had  given  for 
tardiness,  "  That  is  not  a  good  excuse."  The  young  man 
turned  an  insolent  eye  upon  the  teacher  —  a  gray- 
haired  woman  —  and  replied,  "It's  good  enough  for 
me.    What  are  you  going  to  do  about  it?" 

I  cannot  conceive  that  a  Filipino  child  would  be  guilty 
of  such  insolence,  such  defiance  of  decency  and  order. 
But  never  have  I  met  an  American  child  who  would  have 
the  artless  indiscretion  to  put  himself  in  the  position  of 
Domingo.  The  American  child  does  not  mind  violating 
a  rule.  He  is  chary  of  criticising  its  propriety  or  its 
value.  In  other  words,  the  American  child  does  not 
mind  doing  wrong,  but  he  is  wary  of  making  a  fool  of 
himself ;  and  I  have  yet  to  meet  the  Filipino  child  who 
entertained  the  faintest  suspicion  that  it  was  possible 
for  him  to  make  a  fool  of  himself.  Nor  is  the  attitude  of 
dissent  among  Filipinos  limited  to  those  who  express 
themselves.  It  is  sometimes  very  trying  to  feel  that 
after  long-winded  eloquence,  after  citation  and  dem- 
onstration, you  have  made  no  more  real  impression 
upon  the  silent  than  upon  the  talkative,  and  that, 
indeed,  the  gentle  reserve  of  some  of  your  auditors  is 
based  upon  the  conviction  that  your  own  position  is 
the  result  of  indomitable  ignorance.  One  of  my  friends 
has  met  this  spirit  in  a  class  in  the  Manila  High  School. 
A  certain  boy  insists  that  he  has  seen  the  iron  head  of  a 
thunderbolt,  and  although  he  makes  " passing  grades" 
in  physics,  he  does  not  believe  in  physics.  He  regards 
our  explanations  of  the  phenomena  of  lightning  as  a 


♦  «.'.»•     •* 


♦  •      •  •  • 


AN  ANALYSIS  OF  FILIPINO  CHARACTER      91 

parcel  of  foolishness  in  no  wise  to  stand  the  test  of  his 
own  experience,  and  nothing  can  silence  him.  "But, 
ma'am,"  he  says,  when  electricity  is  under  discussion, 
"I  can  see  the  head  of  a  thunder  under  our  house." 
This  young  gentleman  will  graduate  in  a  year  or  two, 
and  the  tourist  from  the  States  will  look  over  the  course 
of  study  of  the  Manila  High  School  and  go  home  tell- 
ing his  brethren  that  the  Filipino  children  are  able  to 
compete  successfully  with  American  youth  in  the  studies 
of  a  secondary  education.  I  myself  had  a  heart-break- 
ing time  with  a  sixth-grade  class  in  one  of  the  inter- 
mediate schools  of  Manila.  The  children  had  been 
studying  animal  life  and  plant  life,  and  could  talk  most 
learnedly  about  anthropoid  apes,  and  " habitats"  and 
other  things ;  but  they  undertook  to  convince  me  that 
Filipino  divers  can  stay  under  water  an  hour  without 
any  diving  apparatus,  and  that  the  reason  for  this 
power  is  that  the  diver  is  "brother  to  a  snake"  — 
that  is,  that  when  the  mother  gave  birth  to  the  child, 
she  gave  birth  to  a  snake  also,  and  that  some  myste- 
rious power  remains  in  persons  so  born. 

Filipino  children  are  not  restless  and  have  no  tra- 
dition of  enmity  between  teacher  and  pupil  to  urge  them 
into  petty  wrong-doing.  Their  attitude  toward  the 
teacher  is  a  very  kindly  one,  and  they  are  almost  uni- 
formly courteous.  Their  powers  of  concentration  are 
not  equal  to  those  of  American  children,  and  they 
cannot  be  forced  into  a  temporarily  heavy  grind,  but 
neither  do  they  suffer  from  the  extremes  of  indolence 
and  application  which  are  the  penalty  of  the  nervous 
energy  of  our  own  race.    They  are  attentive  (which  the 


92       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

American  child  is  not)  but  not  retentive,  and  they  can 
keep  up  a  steady,  even  pull  at  regular  tasks,  especially 
in  routine  work,  at  which  American  children  usually 
rebel.  In  fact,  they  prefer  routine  work  to  variety,  and 
grow  discouraged  quickly  when  they  have  to  puzzle 
out  things  for  themselves.  They  will  faithfully  memo- 
rize pages  and  pages  of  matter  which  they  do  not 
understand,  a  task  at  which  our  nervous  American 
children  would  completely  fail.  They  are  exceedingly 
sensitive  to  criticism,  and  respond  quickly  to  praise. 
Unfortunately  the  narrow  experience  of  the  race,  and 
the  isolation  and  the  general  ignorance  of  the  country, 
make  praise  a  dangerous  weapon  in  the  hands  of  a 
teacher;  for  a  child  is  apt  to  educe  a  positive  and  not 
a  relative  meaning  from  the  compliment.  Filipino 
children  have  not  attained  the  mental  state  of  being 
able  to  qualify  in  innumerable  degrees.  If  a  teacher 
hands  back  a  composition  to  an  American  boy  with 
the  words  "Well  done,"  the  child  understands  per- 
fectly that  his  instructor  means  well  as  compared  with 
the  work  of  his  classmates.  The  Filipino  is  inclined  to 
think  that  she  means  positively  well  done  —  above 
the  average  for  all  the  world.  I  once  complimented  a 
class  in  Capiz  on  the  ease  with  which  they  sang  four- 
part  music,  and  said,  what  I  truly  feel,  that  the  Fili- 
pinos are  a  people  of  unusual  musical  ability.  They 
managed  to  extract  from  the  compliment  the  idea  that 
the  musical  development  of  the  Filipinos  is  far  in  ad- 
vance of  that  of  the  Americans. 

Middle-class  Filipinos  have  a  very  inadequate  con- 
ception of  the  tremendous  wealth  of  artistic,  literary, 


AN  ANALYSIS  OF  FILIPINO  CHARACTER      93 

and  musical  talent  interwoven  with  the  world's  devel- 
opment, and  are  especially  inclined  to  pride  themselves 
upon  their  racial  excellence  in  these  lines,  where,  in 
truth,  they  have  achieved  almost  no  development 
whatever  in  spite  of  the  possession  of  undoubted 
talent.  They  do  not  understand  the  value  of  long 
training,  and  are  inclined  to  assume  that  the  mere 
possession  of  a  creative  instinct  is  final  evidence  of 
excellence  in  any  art. 

It  will  be  some  time  before  what  real  talent  they 
have  will  make  itself  felt  in  any  line,  because  it  will 
take  a  great  deal  of  tactful  handling  to  make  them 
reveal  their  natural  artistic  trend  instead  of  falling 
into  imitation  of  Europe  and  America.  It  is  strange 
that  a  people  so  tenacious  of  its  opinions  with  regard 
to  matters  of  fact  should  be  so  willing  to  surrender 
its  ideal  with  regard  to  the  thing  of  which  a  nation 
has  most  reason  to  be  tenacious,  its  natural  expression. 
But  the  whole  race  is  so  morbidly  sensitive  to  the 
sneer  that  everything  Filipino  is  necessarily  crude  that 
the  young  art  student  or  the  young  musical  student 
feels  that  his  only  hope  of  winning  commendation  is 
in  painting  or  playing  or  composing  after  European 
models;  while  as  for  the  populace  at  large  it  has  its 
own  standards  in  which  other  motives  than  artistic 
excellence  play  the  largest  part. 

I  had  a  friend,  a  young  Filipino  girl,  who  has  been 
one  of  the  most  diligent  among  the  pupils  of  the  Ameri- 
can schools.  She  was  staying  with  me  two  or  three  years 
ago  when  my  publisher  sent  me  a  copy  of  a  primer  in- 
tended for  use  in  the  Philippines,  and  which  had  just 


94       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

been  gotten  out  in  the  United  States.  The  publisher 
had  spared  no  expense  in  his  illustrations,  and  we  were 
tremendously  proud  of  the  artistic  side  of  the  book. 
This  Filipino  girl  had  heard  me  use  the  expression 
"poor  white  trash,"  and  I  had  explained  to  her  how 
the  Southern  negroes  use  the  words  as  a  term  of  deri- 
sion of  those  who  fail  to  live  up  to  the  traditions  of  race 
and  family.  When  I  took  my  book  to  her  in  the  joy 
of  an  author  in  her  first  complete  production,  she 
looked  at  it  a  minute  and  burst  into  tears.  "Poor 
Filipino  trash ! "  was  all  she  could  say  for  a  long  time, 
and  I  finally  pieced  it  out  that  she  was  enraged  be- 
cause the  Filipino  boys  and  girls  in  my  book  were 
sometimes  barefooted,  sometimes  clad  in  chinelas,  and 
wore  native  camisas  instead  of  American  suits  and 
dresses.  I  pointed  out  to  her  that  not  one  Filipino 
child  in  a  hundred  dresses  otherwise,  but  my  argument 
was  of  no  avail.  The  children  in  the  American  readers 
wore  natty  jackets  and  hats  and  high-heeled  shoes, 
and  winter  wraps,  even  at  play,  and  she  wanted  the 
Filipino  children  to  look  the  same. 

A  great  deal  has  been  said  in  the  American  press 
about  the  eagerness  for  education  here.  The  desire 
for  education,  however,  does  not  come  from  any  real 
dissatisfaction  which  the  Filipinos  have  with  them- 
selves, but  from  eagerness  to  confute  the  reproach  which 
has  been  heaped  upon  them  of  being  unprogressive  and 
uneducated.  It  is  an  abnormal  condition,  the  result  of 
association  of  a  people  naturally  proud  and  sensitive 
with  a  people  proud  and  arrogant.  At  present  the 
desire  for  progress  in  things  educational  and  even  in 


AN  ANALYSIS  OF  FILIPINO  CHARACTER      95 

things  material  is  more  or  less  ineffective  because  it  is 
fed  from  race  sensitiveness  rather  than  from  genuine 
discontent  with  the  existing  order  of  things.  The 
educated  classes  of  Filipinos  are  not  at  all  dissatisfied 
with  the  kind  and  quality  of  education  which  they 
possess;  agriculturists  are  not  dissatisfied  with  their 
agricultural  implements;  the  artisans  are  not,  as  a 
class,  dissatisfied  with  their  tools  or  ashamed  of  their 
labor.  If  you  talk  to  a  Filipino  carpenter  about  the 
carefully  constructed  houses  of  America,  he  does  not 
sigh.  He  merely  says,  "That  is  very  good  for  Amer- 
ica, but  here  different  custom."  Filipino  cooks  are  not 
dissatisfied  with  the  terrible  fugons  which  fill  their  eyes 
with  smoke  and  blacken  the  cooking  utensils,  and  have 
to  be  fanned  and  puffed  at  every  few  minutes  and  occa- 
sionally set  the  house  on  fire.  The  natural  causes  of 
growth  are  not  widely  existent,  and  it  is  still  prob- 
lematic if  they  will  ever  come  into  being.  Meanwhile 
growth  goes  on  stimulated  by  the  eternal  criticism, 
the  sting  of  which  the  Filipinos  would  move  heaven 
and  earth  to  escape. 

Our  own  national  progress  and  that  of  the  European 
nations  from  whom  we  are  descended  have  been  so 
differently  conceived  and  developed  that  we  can 
hardly  realize  the  peculiar  process  through  which  the 
Filipinos  are  passing.  We  cannot  conceive  of  Robert 
Fulton  tearing  his  hair  and  undertaking  a  course  in 
mechanics  with  the  ulterior  view  of  inventing  some- 
thing to  prove  that  the  American  race  is  an  inventive 
one.  We  cannot  imagine  Eli  Whitney  buried  in  thought, 
wondering  how  he  could  make  a  cotton  gin  to  disprove 


96       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

the  statement  that  the  Americans  are  an  unprogres- 
sive  people.  Cyrus  Hall  McCormick  did  not  go  out  and 
manufacture  a  reaper  because  he  was  infuriated  by  a 
German  newspaper  taunt  that  the  Americans  were 
backward  in  agriculture.  Nor  can  we  fancy  that  John 
Hay  while  dealing  with  the  Chinese  crisis  in  1900  was 
continually  distracting  his  mind  from  the  tremendously 
grave  points  at  issue  by  wondering  if  he  could  not  do 
something  a  little  cleverer  than  the  other  diplomats 
would  do. 

All  the  natural  laws  of  development  are  turned 
around  in  the  Philippines,  and  motives  which  should 
belong  to  the  crowning  years  of  a  nation's  life  seem  to 
have  become  mixed  in  at  the  beginning  —  a  condition, 
due,  of  course,  to  the  fact  that  the  Filipinos  began  the 
march  of  progress  at  a  time  when  the  telegraph  and 
the  cable  and  books  and  newspapers  and  globe-trotters 
submitted  their  early  development  to  a  harrowing 
comparison  and  observation.  The  Filipino  is  like  an 
orphan  baby,  not  allowed  to  have  his  cramps  and 
colic  and  to  cut  his  teeth  in  the  decent  retirement  of 
the  parental  nursery,  but  dragged  out  instead  into  dis- 
tressing publicity,  told  that  his  wails  are  louder,  his 
digestive  habits  more  uncertain,  his  milk  teeth  more 
unsatisfactory,  than  the  wails  or  the  digestive  habits 
or  the  milk  teeth  of  any  other  baby  that  ever  went 
through  the  developing  process.  Naturally  he  is  self- 
conscious,  and  —  let  us  be  truthful  —  not  having  been 
a  very  promising  baby  from  the  beginning,  both  he 
and  his  nurses  have  had  a  hard  time. 

However,  turned  around  or  not,  we  are  not  respon- 


AN  ANALYSIS  OF  FILIPINO  CHARACTER      97 

sible  for  the  condition.  The  Filipinos  had  arrived  at 
the  self-conscious  stage  before  we  came  here,  and  we 
have  had  to  accept  the  situation  and  make  the  best 
of  it. 

The  American  press  of  Manila,  with  the  very  best  of 
intentions,  has  indulged  itself  in  much  editorial  com- 
ment, and  the  more  the  condition  of  things  is  discussed, 
the  more  the  native  press  strengthens  in  its  quick  sen- 
sitiveness. The  present  attitude  of  the  upper,  or  gov- 
erning, class  of  Filipinos  is  this:  "We  want  the  best 
of  everything  in  the  world  —  of  education,  of  morals, 
of  business  methods,  of  social  polish,  of  literature,  art, 
and  music,  of  roads  and  bridges,  of  agricultural  ma- 
chinery, and  of  local  transportation,  and  we  can  attain 
these  things.' '  They  have  laid  down  in  the  beginning 
a  premise  for  which  no  inductive  process  can  be  found 
as  justification,  —  that  the  Filipino  people  is  capable 
of  doing  anything  which  any  other  nation  has  done; 
and  that,  given  time  and  opportunity  —  especially  the 
opportunity  of  managing  their  own  process  of  devel-  ^l 
opment  —  they  will  demonstrate  their  capacity.  The 
flat  contradiction  of  this  position  which  is  not  infre- 
quently taken  by  Americans  in  discussing  Filipinos  is, 
of  course,  as  extreme  as  the  Filipino  position  itself, 
and,  as  an  observer,  I  have  little  to  do  with  either. 
But  at  the  present  time  I  do  feel  warranted  in  stating 
that  the  mass  of  intelligent  Filipinos  fail  to  distinguish 
between  critical  or  appreciative  ability  and  real  cre- 
ative ability,  and  that  what  they  are  acquiring  in  huge 
doses  just  now  is  the  critical  and  not  the  creative. 
Moreover,  of  the  great  body  of  persons  who  make  the 

7 


98       IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

demand  for  the  best,  only  a  very  few  have  any  idea  of 
what  is  the  best  except  in  book  learning  and  social 
polish.  The  prominent  men  among  the  Filipinos  to- 
day are  those  who  were  educated  in  Europe  or  in 
Filipino  schools  modelled  on  European  patterns.  Their 
idea  of  education  is  a  social  one  —  an  education  which 
fits  a  man  to  be  considered  a  gentleman  and  to  be  an 
adornment  to  the  society  of  his  peers.  They  have  no 
conception  of  the  American  specialization  idea  in  edu- 
cation which  grants  a  doctor's  degree  to  a  man  who 
says  "would  have  went  "  and  "He  come  to  my  house 
yesterday."  The  Filipino  leaders  have  a  perfectly 
clear  idea  of  what  they  want  educationally,  of  what 
they  consider  the  best,  and  they  are  jealously  watching 
the  educational  department  to  see  that  they  get  it. 
The  American  press  urges  more  and  more  manual 
training,  and  the  Filipino  press,  because  manual  train- 
ing is  in  the  list  of  things  marked  "best,"  echoes  the 
general  call.  But  there  is  no  small  body  of  hobbyists 
in  the  Islands  keeping  a  jealous  eye  on  the  manual- 
training  department  of  education.  It  could  be  dropped 
out  of  the  curriculum  by  simply  allowing  it  to  become 
less  and  less  effectual,  and  so  long  as  no  formal  an- 
nouncement was  made  the  Filipinos  would  not  find 
out  what  was  being  done.  But  in  Manila  and  in  most 
provincial  towns  there  are  enough  Filipinos  who  know 
what  musical  instruction  is  to  watch  that  the  musical 
training  be  not  too  badly  administered. 

There  is  plenty  of  complaint  about  the  Sanitary 
System  of  Manila,  there  are  plenty  of  people  to  com- 
plain about  what  is  being  done,  but  there  is  no  small 


AN  ANALYSIS  OF  FILIPINO  CHARACTER      99 

organized  body  of  Filipinos  whose  paramount  in- 
terest in  life  is  fixed  upon  sanitation  and  health,  and 
who  make  it  their  thankless  task  to  harry  the  depart- 
ment and  to  preach  ceaselessly  at  the  unthinking  public 
till  they  get  what  they  want.  The  legislators  of  the 
Philippines  are  gentlemen  born,  men  educated  in  con- 
formity to  the  ideals  of  education  in  aristocratic  coun- 
tries, but  unfortunately  they  have  not  had,  owing  to 
the  political  conditions  which  have  prevailed  here,  the 
practical  experience  of  an  aristocratic  body  in  other 
lands.  In  Mrs.  Ward's  " William  Ashe"  there  is  an 
analysis  of  a  gouty  and  rather  stupid  old  statesman, 
who  is  so  exactly  a  summary  of  what  a  Filipino  states- 
man is  not  that  I  cannot  forbear  quoting  it  here : 

"  He  possessed  that  narrow,  but  still  most  serviceable 
fund  of  human  experience  which  the  English  land-owner, 
while  our  English  tradition  subsists,  can  hardly  escape 
if  he  will.  As  guardsman,  volunteer,  magistrate,  lord 
lieutenant,  member  (for  the  sake  of  his  name  and  his 
cares)  of  various  important  commissions,  as  military 
attache  even  for  a  short  time  to  an  important  embassy, 
he  had  acquired,  by  mere  living,  that  for  which  his  in- 
tellectual betters  had  often  envied  him  —  a  certain 
shrewdness,  a  certain  instinct  both  for  men  and  affairs 
which  were  often  of  more  service  to  him  than  finer  brains 
to  other  persons.' ' 

The  only  large  practical  experience  which  Filipino 
leaders  have  enjoyed  has  come  through  their  being 
land-owners  and  agriculturists.  But  agriculture  has 
not  been  competitive ;  and  when  the  land-owning  class 
travelled,  it  was  chiefly  in  Spain,  which  can  hardly  be 


100     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

called  a  progressive  agricultural  country.  Of  men  of 
the  artisan  class  who  have  worked  their  way  up  by 
their  own  efforts  from  ignorance  to  education,  from 
poverty  to  riches;  of  men  who  have  had  any  large 
available  experience  in  manual  labor  or  in  specialized 
industries,  the  present  Assembly  feels  the  lack.  The 
Filipino  leaders  are  a  body  of  polished  gentlemen,  more 
versed  in  law  than  in  anything  else,  with  varying  side 
lines  of  dilettante  tastes  in  numerous  directions. 

Such  as  they  are,  the  schoolboy  desires  to  be.  One 
of  the  periodic  frenzies  of  the  local  American  press  is 
an  appeal  to  teachers  —  why  are  they  not  remodelling 
character,  why  do  not  the  aims  and  ideals  which  it  is 
their  business  to  instil  make  a  greater  showing  after 
ten  years  of  American  occupation?  American  teachers 
have  talked  themselves  hoarse,  and  as  far  as  talking 
can  go,  they  have  influenced  ideals.  The  child's  con- 
scious ideal  about  which  he  talks  in  public,  and  to  which 
he  devotes  about  one  one-thousandth  of  his  thinking 
time,  is  some  such  person  as  George  Washington,  or 
Abraham  Lincoln,  or  James  A.  Garfield,  who  drove  the 
canal  boat  and  rose  to  be  President  of  the  United 
States.  But  the  subconscious  ideal  which  is  always  in 
his  mind,  upon  which  he  patterns  unthinkingly  his 
speech  and  his  manners  and  his  dreams  of  success,  is 
—  and  it  would  be  unnatural  if  it  were  otherwise  — 
some  local  potentate  who  will  not  carry  home  his  own 
little  bag  of  Conant  currency  when  he  receives  his 
salary  at  the  end  of  the  month.  What  are  a  name  and 
a  few  moral  platitudes  about  a  dead-and-gone  hero? 
What  can  they  mean  to  a  shirtless  urchin  with  a  hungry 


AN  ANALYSIS  OF  FILIPINO  CHARACTER    101 

stomach,  against  the  patent  object-lesson  of  his  own 
countryman  whom  not  only  his  fellow  citizens,  but  the 
invader,  must  treat  with  consideration?  It  would  be 
far  easier  to  distract  the  attention  of  the  children  of  the 
State  of  Ohio  from  their  distinguished  fellow-citizens, 
William  H.  Taft  and  John  D.  Rockefeller,  to  fix  it  upon 
the  late  Lord  Cromer  or  that  Earl  of  Halifax  known  as 
the  "Trimmer/'  than  it  is  to  tell  a  Filipino  child  that  the 
way  to  distinction  lies  through  toil  and  sweat.  Chil- 
dren are  very  patient  about  listening  to  talk,  but  they 
are  going  to  pattern  themselves  upon  what  is  obvious. 
Twenty  or  thirty  years  from  now,  when  the  American 
school  system  will  have  aided  certain  sons  of  the  people, 
men  of  elemental  strength,  to  bully  and  fight  their 
way  to  the  front,  and  they  will  have  become  the  evidence 
that  we  were  telling  the  truth  —  then  will  the  results 
be  visible  in  more  things  than  in  annual  school  com- 
mencements and  in  an  increase  in  the  output  of 
stenographers  and  bookkeepers. 

The  weakest  point  in  a  Filipino  child's  character  is 
his  quick  jealousy  and  his  pride.  His  jealousy  is  of  the 
sort  constitutionally  inimical  to  solidarity.  Paradox- 
ical as  the  statement  may  seem,  the  Filipinos  are  more 
aristocratic  in  their  theories  of  life  than  we  are,  and 
more  democratic  in  their  individual  constitution.  Our 
democracy  has  always  been  tempered  by  common 
sense  and  practicality.  We  like  to  say  at  church  that 
all  men  are  brothers,  and  on  the  Fourth  of  July  to  de- 
clare that  they  are  born  free  and  equal  ;  but  we  do 
not  undertake  to  put  these  theories  into  practice.  Every 
individual  citizen  of  the  United  States  is  not  walking 


102     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

about  with  a  harrowing  dread  of  doing  something  that 
admits  a  lesser  self-esteem  than  his  neighbor  may  pos- 
sess. If  a  fire  breaks  out  in  his  neighborhood,  and  a 
little  action  on  his  part  can  stop  it  before  it  gets  a 
dangerous  start,  he  does  not  hesitate  to  act  for  fear 
doing  so  will  show  him  possessed  of  less  personal  pride 
than  his  neighbor  up  the  street.  If  he  is  earning  sixty 
dollars  a  month,  and  learns  that  some  other  employee 
in  another  house  is  getting  more  money  for  the  same 
work,  he  does  not  take  the  chances  of  starvation  be- 
cause to  submit  to  the  condition  is  to  admit  that  he  is 
less  important  than  another  man.  Yet  the  whole  labor- 
ing element  of  the  Filipino  people  is  permeated  by  just 
such  a  spirit.  It  is  practically  impossible  to  fix  a  price 
for  labor  or  for  produce  by  any  of  the  laws  of  supply  and 
demand  that  regulate  such  things  elsewhere.  The  per- 
sonal jealousies,  the  personal  assertions  of  individuals 
continually  interfere  with  the  normal  conditions  of 
trade.  If  in  the  market  some  American  comes  along 
in  a  hurry  and  pays  a  peso  for  a  fish,  the  normal  price 
of  which  is  about  thirty-five  cents,  the  price  of  fish  goes 
up  all  through  the  market  —  for  Americans.  You  may 
offer  eighty  cents  and  be  refused,  and  the  owner  will 
sell  two  minutes  after  to  a  Filipino  for  thirty-five.  But 
in  so  doing  he  does  not  "lose  his  face."  The  other 
man  got  a  peso  from  an  American,  and  a  man  who 
takes  less  —  from  an  American  —  is  owning  himself 
less  able  than  his  companions. 

We  talk  of  democracy,  but  we  never  know  how 
little  democratic  we  are  till  we  come  in  contact  with 
the  real  article.    Can  you  conceive  what  would  be  the 


AN  ANALYSIS   OF  FILIPINO   CHARACTER    103 

commercial  chaos  of  America  to-morrow  if  the  hum- 
blest laborer  had  the  quick  personal  pride  of  the  mil- 
lionaire? With  all  our  alleged  democracy,  we  realize 
the  impossibility  of  ringing  Mrs.  VanderbihVs  door-bell 
and  asking  her  to  sell  us  a  few  flowers  from  her  conser- 
vatory or  to  direct  us  to  a  good  dressmaker,  though 
we  can  take  just  such  liberties  with  houses  where  the 
evidences  that  money  would  be  welcome  are  patent. 

The  American  laborer  does  not  mind  going  to  and 
from  his  work  in  laboring  clothes,  and  he  makes  no  at- 
tempt to  seem  anything  but  a  laboring  man.  But  you 
cannot  tell  in  a  Manila  street  car  whether  the  white- 
clad  man  at  your  side  is  a  government  clerk  at  sixty 
pesos  a  month  or  a  day  laborer  at  fifteen.  I  once  lost 
a  servant  because  I  commanded  him  to  carry  some 
clothes  to  my  laundress.  "Go  on  the  street  with  a 
bundle  of  clothes,  and  get  into  the  street  car  with 
them!  I  would  rather  die!' '  he  said;  and  he  quitted 
rather  than  do  it. 

Compare  that  with  the  average  common-sense  atti- 
tude of  the  American  laboring  man  or  even  the  pro- 
fessional man.  Until  he  becomes  really  a  great  man  and 
lives  in  the  white  light  of  publicity,  the  American  citi- 
zen does  not  concern  himself  with  his  conduct  at  all  as 
it  relates  to  his  personal  importance.  He  is  likely  to 
argue  that  he  cannot  do  certain  things  which  violate 
his  ideal  of  manhood,  or  other  things  which  are  incon- 
sistent in  a  member  of  the  church,  or  other  things  which 
are  unworthy  of  a  democrat,  or  of  a  member  of  the 
school  board,  or  even  of  an  "all-round  sport."  What- 
ever the  prohibitive  walls  which  hedge  the  freedom  of 


104     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

his  conduct,  each  is  a  perfectly  denned  one,  a  standard 
of  conduct  definitely  outlined  in  his  mind,  to  which  he 
has  pledged  his  allegiance;  but  he  has  no  large  con- 
ception that  most  useful  things  are  forbidden  pleasures 
to  him  because  of  a  sense  of  personal  importance.  He 
has  no  God  of  the  "  I, "  no  feeling  that  makes  him  stay 
his  hand  at  helping  a  cochero  to  free  a  fallen  and  in- 
jured horse,  while  he  looks  to  see  that  some  other  man 
of  his  class  is  helping  also. 

There  is  a  perfectly  defined  class  system  in  the  Phil- 
ippines, and,  between  class  and  class,  feeling  is  not 
bitter;  but  within  each  class  jealousy  is  rampant. 
The  Filipino,  though  greatly  influenced  by  personality, 
does  not  yet  conceive  of  a  leadership  based  upon  person- 
ality to  which  loyalty  must  be  unswervingly  paid.  He 
feels  the  charm  of  personality,  he  yields  to  it  just  so 
long  as  it  falls  in  with  his  own  ideas,  but  the  moment 
it  crosses  his  own  assertiveness  he  is  ready  to  revolt. 
Many  Americans  speak  of  this  characteristic  as  if  it 
were  a  twist  in  character.  My  own  opinion  is  that  it 
is  a  passing  phase,  due  to  the  Filipino's  lack  of  the 
"narrow,  but  most  serviceable  fund  of  human  experi- 
ence." But  no  matter  to  what  cause  the  condition  is 
due,  it  makes  a  great  difference  in  the  life  of  the  indi- 
vidual and  of  the  social  body  as  a  whole  that  each  unit 
has  fixed  his  ideal  of  conduct  upon  an  illimitable  con- 
sciousness of  personal  importance,  instead  of  upon  per- 
fectly defined  ideals  in  particular  matters.  It  makes  for 
CJ) femininity  in  the  race. 

— if  the  reader  will  meditate  a  little  upon  the  difference 
between  masculine  pride  and  feminine  pride  in  America, 


AN  ANALYSIS  OF  FILIPINO   CHARACTER    105 

he  will  probably  agree  with  me  that  masculine  pride 
centres  largely  in  loyalty  to  well-defined  ideals  of  what 
is  manly,  or  honorable,  or  bold,  or  just,  or  religious  — 
in  short,  it  tries  to  live  up  to  the  requirements  of  a 
hundred  separate  standards.  On  the  other  hand,  fem- 
inine pride,  outside  of  its  adherence  to  what  is  chaste  and 
womanly,  consists  of  pride  in  self,  a  kind  of  self-esti- 
mate, based  frequently  upon  social  position,  sometimes 
on  a  consciousness  of  self-importance  which  comes 
through  the  admiration  of  men.  In  either  case  the 
pride  is  likely  to  show  itself  in  a  jealous  exaction  of 
consideration  for  the  individual.  Such  is  Filipino 
pride.  It  is  almost  wholly  concerned  in  guarding  its 
vested  rights,  in  demanding  and  exacting  the  consid- 
eration due  the  importance  of  its  possessor. 

Filipinos  are  hard  to  enlist  in  any  new  undertaking 
until  they  are  certain  that  success  will  bring  "  consid- 
eration." They  love  newspaper  notices  and  publicity, 
they  love  the  centre  of  the  stage,  and  every  new  ad- 
vance in  intelligence  is  bulwarked  by  a  disproportional 
demand  for  "consideration." 

Filipino  men  are  not  lacking  in  manly  qualities. 
They  have  the  stronger  courage,  the  relatively  stronger 
will  and  passions  which  distinguish  the  men  of  our  own 
race.  But  they  are  harder  to  get  along  with  than  are 
Filipino  women,  because  their  sense  of  sex  importance 
is  so  much  exaggerated,  and  because,  as  Mr.  Kipling 
would  put  it,  they  "  have  too  much  ego  in  their  cosmos." 
The  secret  consciousness  of  power  is  not  enough  for 
them.  They  must  flash  it  every  minute  in  your  eyes, 
that  you  may  not  forget  to  yield  the  adulation  due  to 


106     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

power.  Like  women,  they  get  heady  on  a  small  allow- 
ance of  power;  and  indeed  in  both  sexes  there  are 
emphasized  certain  characteristics  which  we  are  ac- 
customed to  look  upon  as  feminine.  Their  pride  is  fem- 
inine as  I  have  analyzed  it.  They  rely  upon  intuition 
to  guide  them  more  than  upon  analysis.  In  enlisting 
cooperation,  even  in  public  matters,  they  are  likely  to 
appeal  to  a  sentiment  of  friendship  for  themselves  in- 
stead of  demonstrating  the  abstract  superiority  of 
their  cause.  They  will  make  a  haughty  public  demand, 
but  will  not  scruple  to  support  it  with  secret  petition 
and  appeal.  They  are  adepts  at  playing  upon  the  weak- 
ness and  petty  vanity  of  others ;  and  they  deal  gently 
'  with  the  strong,  but  boldly  with  the  weak.  Both  men 
and  women  possess  an  abundance  of  sexual  jealousy, 
and  have,  in  addition,  the  quick  sensitiveness  about 
rank,  worldly  possessions,  and  precedence  which  with 
us  has  become  the  reproach  of  the  feminine.  Lastly, 
they  have,  in  its  highest  development,  the  capacity  to 
make  a  volte-face  with  grace  and  equanimity.  They 
are  cunning,  but  not  shrewd ;  their  reasoning  is  wholly 
deductive,  they  are  inclined  to  an  enthusiastic  assent  to 
large  statements,  especially  when  these  take  the  form 
of  moral  or  political  truisms;  but  they  do  not  submit 
their  convictions  to  practical  working  tests.  They 
seem  often  inconsistent,  but  observation  will  show  that, 
however  inconsistent  their  practice  is  with  their  pro- 
fessions, it  is  always  consistent  with  their  pride,  as  I 
have  analyzed  it  in  these  pages. 


CHAPTER   NINE 

MY  EARLY  EXPERIENCES   IN  HOUSEKEEPING 

I  set  up  Housekeeping  —  Romoldo's  Ideas  of  arranging 
Furniture  —  My  Cheerful  Environment  —  Romoldo's 
Success  in  making  "Hankeys"  —  He  introduces  the 
Orphan  Tikkia  as  his  Assistant  —  The  Romance  of  Ro- 

MOLDO    AND    TlKKIA. 

AT  the  period  of  my  advent  in  Capiz  there  were 
/-A  but  two  other  American  women  there,  wives 
A-  ■*  of  military  men.  Later  our  numbers  were  in- 
creased by  the  wives  of  several  civilian  employees  and 
two  more  women  teachers.  In  those  first  days  the 
hospitality  of  the  military  women  made  no  small  break 
in  the  routine  of  my  daily  life.  At  the  time  of  our 
appointment  we  teachers  had  been  assured  by  a  cir- 
cular from  the  War  Department  that  we  should  enjoy 
the  privileges  of  the  military  commissary;  but  this 
ruling  had  been  changed  in  the  several  months  that 
had  elapsed,  and  I  found  myself  stranded  with  prac- 
tically no  access  to  American  tinned  fruits  and  vege- 
tables. I  ate  rice,  fish,  and  bananas  with  the  best 
grace  I  could;  and  when,  after  a  month  of  boarding, 
I  decided  to  set  up  housekeeping,  and  one  of  these 
ladies  surreptitiously  and  with  fear  and  trembling  pre- 
sented me  with  a  can  of  concentrated  lye,  my  grati- 


108    IMPRESSIONS    OF    THE    PHILIPPINES 

tude  knew  no  bounds.  My  Filipino  servant,  named 
Romoldo,  whom  I  had  dubbed  "  The  Magnificent/ '  was 
set  to  work  cleaning  up  my  prospective  dwelling ;  and 
I  went  out  and  secured  the  services  of  a  trooper  of  the 
Tenth  Cavalry  to  supplement  the  deficiencies  in  Ro- 
moldo's  housecleaning  instincts  by  some  American 
brawn  and  muscle. 

The  trooper,  a  coal-black  African,  had  picked  up  a 
great  deal  of  Spanish,  which  he  spoke  with  the  corrup- 
tion of  vowel  sounds  peculiar  to  his  race  and  color. 
In  addition  to  collecting  the  stipend  agreed  upon,  he  in- 
cidentally borrowed  two  dollars  (U.  S.)  of  me.  Now, 
I  was  brought  up  in  Missouri  and  knew  enough  of  the 
colored  race  to  be  sure  that  I  was  bidding  a  fond  adieu 
to  the  two  dollars  when  I  handed  them  to  the  trooper. 
But  I  was  not  prepared  for  my  henchman's  persist- 
ence in  having  the  extension  of  time  made  formal.  I 
was  willing  to  forget  the  two  dollars  and  have  done 
with  them,  but  the  African  would  not  permit  them  to 
rest  in  peace.  He  presented  himself  regularly  every 
two  weeks  to  ask  for  another  fortnight's  extension. 
Finally,  when  the  regiment  was  about  to  leave  the 
Islands,  I  insisted  that  he  should  accept  the  two  dollars 
as  an  evidence  of  my  good-will  toward  the  United 
States  Army  and  the  defenders  of  the  flag,  and  he  was 
graciously  pleased  so  to  do. 

The  trooper's  muscles  were  strong  as  his  habits  of 
renewal,  and  he  and  Romoldo  scoured  the  floors  of 
my  new  establishment  until  the  shiny  black  accre- 
tions of  twenty-five  years  of  petroleum  and  dirt  had 


EARLY   HOUSEKEEPING   EXPERIENCES     109 

given  way  to  unpolished  roughness,  and  then  I  set 
to  work  to  get  a  new  polish.  Then  we  took  hold  of 
the  furniture  —  heavy,  wooden,  Viennese  stuff  —  and 
scrubbed  it  with  zeal.  My  landlord  came  to  look  in 
occasionally  and  was  hurt.  He  said  plaintively  that 
they  had  had  no  contagious  diseases,  and  he  asked 
why  this  deluge  of  soap  and  water.  I  basely  declined 
to  admit  the  flat  truth,  which  was  that  the  floors  and 
chairs  were  too  greasy  for  my  taste,  but  attributed 
our  energy  to  a  mad  American  zeal  for  scouring.  He 
said,  "Ah,  costumbre!"  and  seemed  to  feel  that  the 
personal  sting  of  my  actions  had  been  removed. 

In  due  time  the  house  was  clean,  and  I  moved  in. 
The  sala,  or  drawing-room,  was  at  least  forty  by 
thirty  feet,  with  two  sides  arcaded  and  filled  with 
shell  windows,  which,  when  drawn  back,  gave  the 
room  almost  the  open-air  effect  of  a  gallery.  It  was 
furnished  with  two  large  gilt  mirrors,  a  patriarchal 
cane-seated  sofa,  several  wooden  armchairs,  eleven  ma- 
jolica pedestals  for  holding  jardinieres,  and  two  very 
small  tables.  These  last-named  articles  "the  Magni- 
ficent "  placed  at  the  head  of  the  apartment  in  such  a 
position  as  to  divide  its  cross  wall  into  thirds,  and  then 
arranged  all  the  chairs  in  two  rows  leading  from  the 
two  tables,  beginning  with  the  most  patriarchal  arm- 
chair and  ending  "with  the  dining-room  chair,  the  leg 
of  which  was  tied  on  with  a  string.  The  effect  was 
rigidly  mathematical;  and  when  my  landlady  came 
in  and  adorned  each  table  with  a  potted  rose  geranium, 
stuck  all  over  with  the  halves  of  empty  egg-shells  to 


110     IMPRESSIONS   OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

give  it  the  appearance  of  flowering,  I  felt  that  it  was 
time  to  assert  myself.  The  egg-shells  went  promptly 
into  the  garbage  box,  and  the  chairs  and  tables  were 
pulled  about  to  achieve  the  unpremeditated  effect  of 
our  own  rooms.  Then  I  went  out  for  a  walk,  and 
returning  found  that  Romoldo  had  restored  things  to 
his  own  taste.  Again  I  broke  up  his  formation,  so 
the  next  time  he  tried  a  new  device.  He  put  one 
table  at  the  top  of  the  room  and  one  at  the  bottom, 
with  the  chairs  arranged  in  a  circle  around  each  one. 
This  gave  the  pleasing  impression  to  one  entering  the 
room  that  a  card  game  was  ready  to  begin.  Again 
Romoldo's  efforts  were  treated  with  contempt. 

For  at  least  two  weeks  a  deadly  combat  went  on 
between  Romoldo  and  me,  in  which  I  finally  came  off 
victor.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  seemed  to  have  ac- 
customed himself  to  our  ideas  of  decoration.  He  had, 
in  our  week's  deluging,  cleaned  up  the  lamps  of  the 
chandeliers,  brushed  down  the  cobwebs,  and  removed 
some  half-dozen  baskets  of  faded  and  dust-laden  paper 
flowers.  He  administered  the  ironical  consolation 
meanwhile  that  their  destruction  did  not  matter,  since 
my  admiring  pupils  would  see  that  the  supply  was 
renewed.  To  my  eternal  sorrow  he  was  a  true  prophet, 
and  I  had  to  contemplate  green  chrysanthemums  and 
blue  roses,  and  a  particularly  offensive  hand-painted 
basket  made  of  plates  of  split  shell.  However,  the 
potted  palms  and  ferns  with  which  I  ornamented  the 
eleven  pedestals  made  atonement;  and  when  I  came 
in  after  a  hard  day's  work  and  saw  the  unreal,  golden- 
tinted  light  of  afternoon  filling  the  dignified  old  room, 


EARLY   HOUSEKEEPING   EXPERIENCES     111 

I  found  it  home-like  and  lovely  in  spite  of  the  paper 
flowers  and  the  shell  basket. 

My  bedroom  was  half  as  large  as  the  sala,  with  a 
small  room  adjoining  it  which  I  used  for  a  dining- 
room,  and  at  the  back  there  were  a  kitchen,  a  bath- 
room, closets,  and  a  bamboo  porch.  For  this  shelter, 
furnished  as  it  was,  I  paid  the  munificent  sum  of 
twenty-five  pesos  Mexican  currency,  or  twelve  and 
one-half  dollars  gold  per  month. 

As  my  house  was  located  over  the  second  saloon  in 
town  —  one  of  the  regular,  innocent,  grocery-looking 
Filipino  breed  —  and  as  it  commanded  a  fine  view  of 
the  plaza,  guard  mount,  retreat,  and  Sunday  morning 
church  procession,  I  had  at  least  all  the  excitement 
that  was  going  in  Capiz.  The  American  soldiers  swore 
picturesquely  over  their  domino  and  billiard  games 
down  stairs;  the  " ruffle  of  drums' '  (though  why  so 
called  I  know  not,  for  it  consists  of  a  blare  of  trumpets) 
woke  up  the  sultry  stillness  at  nine  a.  m.  ;  the  great 
church-bells  struck  the  hours  and  threw  in  a  frenzy 
of  noise  on  their  own  account  at  some  six  or  eight 
regular  periods  during  the  day;  at  twelve,  noon,  the 
village  band  stationed  itself  on  the  plaza  to  run  a 
lively  opposition  to  the  bells ;  and  at  sunset  the  charm- 
ing ceremony  of  retreat  brought  us  all  out  to  see  the 
flag  drop  down,  and  to  hear  the  clear,  long  bugle  notes ; 
and  there  were  sick  call,  mess  call,  and  several  other 
calls.  Not  the  least  beautiful  of  these  was  "taps."  I 
used  to  wait  for  it  in  the  perfect  stillness  of  starlit 
nights  when  the  Filipinos  had  all  gone  to  bed,  and  the 
houses  were  ever  so  faintly  revealed  by  the  lanterns 


112     IMPRESSIONS   OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

burning  dimly  in  front,  and  the  faintest  gleam  told 
where  the  river  was  slipping  by.  There  would  be  no 
sound  save  the  step  of  the  trumpeter  picking  his  way 
up  the  street.  Then  the  church  clock  would  strike  — 
not  the  ordinary  bell,  but  a  deep-throated  one  that 
could  have  been  heard  for  miles  —  and  as  the  vibra- 
tions of  the  last  stroke  died  away,  the  first  high- 
pitched,  sweet  notes  would  ring  out,  to  fade  away 
in  the  ineffable  sadness  of  the  closing  strain. 

But  if  there  was  much  that  was  novel  and  more  that 
was  noisy  in  those  first  experiences,  there  was  also 
plenty  of  irritation.  As  I  stated  before,  I  had  brought 
Romoldo  from  Iloilo  to  Capiz  with  the  idea  of  using 
him  for  a  cook.  In  the  days  when  I  was  still  boarding, 
he  had  confirmed  me  in  this  intention  by  stating  that 
he  had  had  experience  in  that  line  with  an  American 
army  officer.  He  was  particularly  enthusiastic  over 
his  achievements  with  "hankeys."  For  a  long  while, 
I  could  make  nothing  of  this  word,  but  at  last  I  dis- 
covered that  it  was  his  corruption  of  "  pancakes."  I 
found  out  this  fact  by  asking  Romoldo  to  explain  how 
he  made  "  hankeys,"  and  by  recognizing  among  his 
ingredients  milk,  eggs,  and  flour. 

As  the  Filipina  with  whom  I  boarded  professed  to 
be  eager  to  learn  American  cookery,  I  told  Romoldo 
to  make  some  "  hankeys."  In  the  language  of  Virgil, 
I  " shudder  to  relate"  what  those  "hankeys"  were. 
There  were  three,  nicely  piled  on  top  of  one  another, 
after  our  time-honored  custom.  No  words  could  fitly 
describe  them.  They  resembled  unleavened  bread, 
soaked  in  a  clarifying  liquid,  heated,  pressed  down,  and 


EARLY   HOUSEKEEPING   EXPERIENCES     118 

polished  on  both  sides.  The  Filipina  tried  to  conceal 
her  disgust,  and  pretended  to  accept  my  explanation 
that  they  were  only  a  caricature  of  our  loved  breakfast 
delicacy ;  but  I  could  see  that  she  thought  I  was  trying 
to  cover  up  my  newly  acquired  sense  of  national 
deficiency. 

However,  when  I  set  up  housekeeping,  Romoldo  was 
promoted  to  the  office  of  chief  cook  and  only  bottle 
washer.  He  conveyed  to  me  a  delicate  intimation  that 
it  was  not  proper  for  me  to  live  without  a  female  at-  j 
tendant,  and  said  that  he  had  a  friend  —  a  young 
woman  lately  orphaned  —  who  needed  work  and  would 
be  glad  to  have  the  position.  I  was  sufficiently  un- 
sophisticated in  Filipino  ways  to  take  this  statement  I 
at  its  face  value.  As  the  orphan  was  willing  to  labor 
for  a  consideration  of  one  dollar  gold  per  month  and 
room,  the  experiment  could  not  be  an  expensive 
one. 

The  orphan  duly  arrived,  escorted  by  Romoldo.  He 
carried  her  trunk  also,  consisting  of  several  garments 
tied  up  in  a  cotton  handkerchief. 

Her  name,  as  Romoldo  pronounced  it,  was  Tikkia 
(probably  Eustaquia),  and  I  could  have  wished  she 
had  been  handsomer  and  younger.  She  was  a  heavy- 
browed,  pock-marked  female,  with  a  mass  of  cocoanut- 
oiled  tresses  streaming  down  her  back,  and  one  leg, 
bare  from  the  knee  down,  rather  obtrusively  display- 
ing its  skinny  shin  where  her  dress  skirt  was  looped  up 
and  tucked  in  at  the  waist.  She  had  no  petticoat,  and 
her  white  chemisette  ended  two  inches  below  the  waist 
line.     As  it  was  not  belted  down,  it  crept  out  and  lent 

8 


114     IMPRESSIONS   OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

a  comical  suggestion  of  zouave  jacket  to  the  camisa, 
or  waist,  of  sinamay  (a  kind  of  native  cloth  made  of 
hemp  fibres).  She  understood  not  one  word  of  Spanish 
or  English. 

When  I  occupied  my  new  home  for  the  first  night, 
I  " ordered"  fried  chicken  and  mashed  potatoes  for 
dinner,  and  then  went  out  in  the  kitchen  and  cooked 
them.  The  army  quartermaster  had  loaned  me  a  range. 
Romoldo  displayed  an  intelligent  interest  in  the  cook- 
ing lesson,  but  Tikkia  seemed  bored.  When  the  po- 
tatoes were  done,  I  gave  them  to  Tikkia  to  mash. 
Romoldo  was  in  the  dining-room,  setting  the  table. 
I  told  her  in  my  best  mixed  Spanish  and  Visayan  to 
mash  them,  and  then  to  put  them  on  the  stove  a  few 
minutes  in  order  to  dry  out  any  water  in  them.  She 
understood  just  that  one  word  " water";  and  when  I 
returned,  after  being  out  of  the  kitchen  a  minute,  the 
potatoes  were  swimming  in  a  quart  of  liquid.  So 
I  dined  on  fried  chicken. 

For  the  first  two  or  three  weeks  there  were  many 
ludicrous  accidents  in  my  kitchen  and  some  irritating 
ones.  But  on  the  whole  Romoldo  took  hold  of  things 
very  well ;  and  though  my  menu  broadened  gradually, 
it  was  not  long  before  he  had  learned  a  few  simple  dishes, 
and  my  labor  of  supervision  was  much  lighter.  I 
said  that  I  was  pleased  with  Romoldo  to  the  enlisted 
man  who  was  in  charge  of  the  officers'  mess  and  who 
incidentally  made  some  market  purchases  for  me.  He 
said,  "You  ain't  particular,"  with  a  finality  that  left 
me  no  defence.  He  was  mistaken,  however.  I  am 
particular,  but  at  that  time  I  was  still  in  the  somnam- 


EARLY   HOUSEKEEPING    EXPERIENCES     115 

bulance  of  philanthropy  which  brought  us  pedagogues 
to  the  Philippines. 

I  am  willing  to  admit  to-day  that  I  vastly  overrated 
Romoldo's  services,  and  yet,  considering  the  untutored 
state  of  his  mind  and  the  extent  of  his  salary,  they 
were  a  good  investment.  There  has  been  among  some 
Americans  here  a  carping  and  antagonistic  spirit  dis- 
played toward  Filipinos,  which  reflects  little  credit 
upon  our  national  consistency  or  charity.  We  have  a 
habit  of  uttering  generalities  about  one  race  on  the  / 
authority  of  a  single  instance ;  whereas,  with  our  own, 
the  tendency  is  to  throw  out  of  consideration  those 
single  instances  in  which  the  actual,  undeniable  prac- 
tice of  the  American  is  a  direct  confutation  of  what  his 
countrymen  declare  is  the  race  standard.  My  kitchen 
under  Romoldo's  touches  was  not  perfect,  but  I  have 
seen  worse  in  my  native  land. 

Romoldo  being  a  young  and  rather  attractive  man, 
and  Tikkia  such  a  female  pirate,  I  insist  that  my  failure 
to  suspect  a  romance  is  at  least  partially  justified;  and 
certainly  never  by  word  or  glance  did  they  betray  the 
least  interest  in  each  other.  But  some  days  after  my 
establishment  had  begun  to  run  smoothly,  one  of  the 
military  ladies  asked  me  to  dinner.  The  punkah  string 
was  pulled  by  a  murderous-looking  ex-insurrecto,  who 
fixed  me  with  a  basilisk  glance,  half  entreaty,  half  re- 
proach. It  became  so  painful  that  toward  the  end  of 
dinner  I  asked  my  hostess  if  his  expression  was  due 
to  his  general  frame  of  mind  or  to  a  special  aversion 
toward  pedagogues.  She  replied  that  he  was  probably 
bracing  himself  to  approach  me  on  a  topic  consuming 


116     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

his  very  vitals,  or  as  much  of  them,  at  least,  as  may 
be  expressed  in  absent-mindedness.  Tikkia  was  his 
matrimonio,  and  I,  the  maestra,  had  taken  her  and 
given  her  to  Romoldo,  and  the  twain  lived  in  my 
{louse!  The  lady  added  that  Tikkia  was  not  matri- 
monio en  iglesia  —  that  is,  married  in  church  —  but 
only  matrimonio  pro  tern. 

Pedro  came  into  the  sala  after  dinner  and  made  his 
petition  with  humility.  He  extolled  his  kindness  to 
the  ungrateful  Tikkia,  and  denounced  Romoldo  as  a 
fiend  and  liar.  He  tried  hard  to  weep,  but  did  not 
succeed. 

0  temporal  0  mores!  Such  are  the  broadening 
effects  of  travel  and  two  short  months  in  the  Orient. 
Conceive  of  the  old  maid  schoolteacher  in  America 
assuming  the  position  of  judge  in  a  matrimonial  —  or 
extra-matrimonial  —  scandal  of  this  sort. 

1  promised  justice  to  the  sniffling  Pedro,  and  told 
him  to  call  for  it  next  day  at  ten  a.  m.  Like  me,  he 
supposed  it  would  take  the  form  of  Tikkia.  But 
when  I  reached  home  and  summoned  the  culprits 
before  the  bar  of  a  "  moral  middle  class,"  they  were  not 
disconcerted  in  the  least.  Romoldo  stood  upon  high 
moral  ground.  Tikkia  might  or  might  not  be  married. 
It  was  nothing  to  him,  and  he  did  not  know.  She  was 
an  orphan  of  his  acquaintance  to  whom  he  wished  to  do 
a  kindness.  Tikkia  promptly  drew  up  her  skirt  over 
the  unexposed  knee  and  showed  a  filthy  sore  which 
she  said  was  caused  by  Pedro's  playful  habit  of  drag- 
ging her  about  on  stony  ground  by  the  hair.  Moreover 
she  stood  upon  her  legal  rights.    She  was  not  matrimonio 


EARLY   HOUSEKEEPING   EXPERIENCES     117 

en  iglesia,  and  she  had  a  right  to  leave  Pedro  when  she 
chose. 

Pedro  came  next  day  at  ten  a.  m.,  but  he  did  not 
get  justice.  On  the  contrary,  justice,  as  embodied  in 
Tikkia,  stood  at  the  head  of  the  stairs  and  said,  "No 
quiero"  as  often  as  I  (and  Pedro)  turned  our  imploring 
eyes  upon  her. 

Things  went  on  in  this  way  for  some  time,  and  my 
perplexities  offered  amusement  to  my  friends.  I  felt 
sure  that  Romoldo  and  Tikkia  were  lying,  and  at  one 
time  I  resolved  to  discharge  them  both.  The  young 
American  teacher  who  had  been  in  the  Islands  since 
the  beginning  of  our  occupation  gave  me  some  sound 
advice.  He  said:  "What  on  earth  are  these  people's 
morals  to  you?  Romoldo  is  a  good  servant.  He 
speaks  Spanish,  and  if  you  let  him  go  for  one  who  speaks 
only  Visayan,  your  own  housekeeping  difficulties  will 
be  greatly  increased.' '  Then  I  pleaded  the  old-fash- 
ioned rural  American  fear  that  people  might  think  the 
worse  of  me  for  keeping  such  a  pair  in  my  employ; 

and  Mr.  S simply  collapsed.    He  sat  and  laughed 

in  my  face  till  I  laughed  too.  "We  are  not  in  America 
now,"  was  his  parting  remark;  and  I  am  still  learning 
what  a  variety  of  moral  degeneration  that  sentence 
was  created  to  excuse. 

I  have  already  given  more  space  than  is  warranted 
by  good  taste  to  the  romance  of  Tikkia  and  Romoldo. 
The  affair  went  on  till  I  began  to  fear  lest  Pedro,  in 
one  of  the  attacks  of  jealousy  to  which  Filipinos  are 
subject,  should  take  vengeance  and  a  bolo  in  his  own 
hands.    Fortunately,  at  the  critical  moment,  Romoldo 


S 


118     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

and  Tikkia  fell  out.  She  kicked  his  guitar  off  the  back 
porch  and  he  complained  that  she  neglected  her  work. 
Then  she  asked  leave  to  return  to  her  own  town  for  a 
few  days,  and  the  request  was  joyfully  granted.  Pedro 
also  obtained  a  vacation.  Their  town  was  round  the 
corner  one  block  away,  and  there  they  retired.  They 
greeted  me  pleasantly  whenever  I  passed  by,  and 
Tikkia  seemed  in  no  wise  embarrassed  by  her  change 
of  front. 

If  I  have  described  this  incident  in  full,  it  is  because 
it  illustrates  so  perfectly  the  attitude  of  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  Filipino  people  on  marriage.  The  common 
people  seldom  marry  except,  as  we  would  term  it,  by 
the  common-law  marriage.  When  they  do  marry  in 
church,  it  is  quite  as  much  for  the  eclat  of  the  function 
as  for  conscientious  reasons.  Marriage  in  the  church 
costs  usually  eight  pesos  (four  dollars  gold),  though 
cheaper  on  Sundays,  and  to  achieve  it  is  quite  a  mark 
of  financial  prosperity. 

Of  course,  among  the  educated  classes  our  own 
view  of  marriage  prevails,  though  I  have  heard  of  in- 
stances where  the  common-law  form  was  still  observed. 
In  some  towns  it  is  customary  for  marriages  to  take 
place  but  once  a  year;  an  American  told  me  of  de- 
scending on  a  mountain  town  where  the  annual  wed- 
ding festival  was  due,  and  of  finding  fifty-two  happy 
couples  in  their  gala  attire  wending  a  decorous  pro- 
cession toward  the  church. 


CHAPTER  TEN 

FILIPINO   YOUTHS  AND  MAIDENS 

Manners  and  Social  Condition  of  Filipino  Girls  —  Senti- 
mental Boy  Lovers  —  Love-making  by  Proxy  —  How 
Courtship  is  usually  performed  —  Premature  Ado- 
lescence of  Filipino  Youth  —  The  Boda  Americana  — 
Filipino  Girls  are  Coquettes,  but  not  Flirts  —  Ex- 
posure of  Filipino  Girls  to  Unchaste  Conversation  — 
Unceasing  Watchfulness  over  Girls  —  Progressive 
Changes  in  all  the  above  Matters. 

WITH  regard  to  their  women  the  Filipinos 
are  an  Occidental  people  rather  than  an 
Oriental  one.  Marriage  is  frequently  en- 
tered upon  at  the  will  of  the  parent,  but  few  parents; 
will  insist  upon  a  marriage  where  the  girl  objects. 
While  the  social  liberty  accorded  a  young  girl  is  much 
less  than  what  is  permitted  in  our  own  country,  there 
is  no  Oriental  seclusion  of  women.  Children  accom- 
pany their  parents  to  balls  and  fiestas,  and  maidens  are 
permitted  to  mingle  freely  in  society  from  their  baby- 
hood. At  fourteen  or  fifteen  they  enter  formally  into 
society  and  begin  to  receive  attentions  from  men.  In 
the  upper  classes  seventeen  or  eighteen  is  the  usual 
time  for  marriage.  By  the  time  a  girl  is  twenty-two  or 
twenty-three  she  is  counted  passee,  and,  if  unmarried, 
must  retire  into  the  background  in  favor  of  her  younger 
sisters. 


120     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

The  young  girls  are  exceedingly  attractive.  They 
are  slender,  and  their  heads  sit  beautifully  above  long 
swan-like  necks.  They  dress  their  hair  in  a  rather 
tightly  drawn  pompadour,  and  ornament  it  with  filigree 
combs  set  with  seed  pearls,  or,  if  they  are  able,  with 
jewelled  butterflies  and  tiaras.  Jewellery  is  not  only 
a  fashion  here,  but  an  investment.  Outside  of  Manila, 
Iloilo,  and  Cebu,  banks  are  practically  unknown.  The 
provincial  man  who  is  well  to  do  puts  his  money  into 
houses  and  lands  or  into  jewellery  for  his  womankind. 
The  poor  emulate  the  rich,  and  wear  in  imitation  what 
their  wealthy  neighbors  can  afford  in  the  real. 

Filipino  women  never  affect  the  dominating  atti- 
tude assumed  by  young  American  coquettes.  They 
have  an  infinite  capacity  for  what  we  call  small  talk 
and  repartee;  and,  as  they  never  aim  for  brilliancy 
and  are  quite  natural  and  unaffected,  their  pretty  ways 
have  all  the  charm  that  an  unconscious  child's  have. 
They  love  dress,  and  in  one  lightning  flash  will  take 
you  in  from  head  to  foot,  note  every  detail  of  your  cos- 
tume, and,  the  next  day,  imitate  whatever  parts  of  it 
please  their  fancy  and  fall  in  with  their  national  cus- 
toms. They  are  adepts  at  mimicry  and  among  them- 
selves will  lash  us  mercilessly.  They  straighten  up 
their  shoulders,  pull  in  the  abdomen,  and  strut  about 
with  a  stiff-backed  walk  and  with  their  hands  hanging 
stiffly  at  their  sides.  They  themselves  are  full  of  mag- 
netism and  can  advance  with  outstretched  hand  and 
greet  you  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  you  believe  that 
your  coming  has  put  sunshine  in  their  lives. 

Their  chief  talk  is  of  lovers  in  the  two  stages  of 


A    FILIPINO   MOTHER   AND   FAMILY 
All  the  children  except  the  baby  attended  the  public  school 


FILIPINO   YOUTHS  AND  MAIDENS       121 

pretendiente  and  novio,  and  they  are  full  of  hints  and 
imputations  to  one  another  of  love  affairs.  Among 
young  people,  in  spite  of  the  restrictions  put  about 
them  to  keep  the  opposite  sexes  from  meeting  tete-a- 
tete  or  the  remotest  chances  of  "  spooning/'  the  air  is 
surcharged  with  romance.  Apparently  the  Filipino 
boy  has  no  period  in  his  development  in  which  he  hates 
girls.  At  twelve  or  fourteen  he  waxes  sentimental, 
and  his  love  notes  are  the  most  reeking  examples  of 
puppy  love  and  high  tragedy  ever  confiscated  by  an 
outraged  teacher.  When  written  in  the  vernacular 
they  are  not  infrequently  obscene,  for  one  of  the  sad- 
dest phases  of  early  sentiment  here  is  that  it  is  never 
innocent;  but  in  English  they  run  to  pathos.  One 
ludicrous  phase  of  love-making  is  the  amount  of  third- 
person  intervention  —  an  outsider  thrusting  himself 
into  the  matter  to  plead  for  his  lovelorn  chum.  For 
some  years  I  made  a  collection  of  confiscated  billet- 
doux,  but  they  were  destroyed  in  one  of  the  frequent 
fires  which  visit  Manila.  I  can,  however,  produce 
a  fair  imitation  of  one  of  these  kindly  first  aids  to  the 
wounded.    This  is  the  prevailing  style : 

Miss 


i 

Lovely  and  Most  Respectable  Lady: 
I  am  do  me  the  honor  to  write  to  you  these  few  un- 
worthy lines  to  tell  you  why  you  are  breaking  the  heart 
and  destroying  a  good  health  of  my  friend  Pedro.  Al- 
ways I  am  going  to  his  house  every  night,  and  I  am  find 
him  weeping  for  you.  He  is  not  eating  for  love  of  you. 
He  cannot  sleep  because  he  is  think  about  your  eyes 
which  are  like  the  stars,  and  your  hairs  which  are  the 
most  beautiful  of  all  the  girls  in  this  town.    Alas !   my 


122     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

friend  must  die  if  you  do  not  give  him  a  hope.  Every- 
day he  is  walking  in  front  of  your  house,  but  you  do  not 
give  to  him  one  little  word  of  love.  Even  you  do  not  love 
him,  you  can  stop  his  weep  if  you  like  to  send  him  one 
letter,  telling  to  him  that  you  are  not  angry  to  him  or 
to  me,  his  friend. 

I  have  been  informed  by  several  persons  that  there 
is  an  official  etiquette  about  this  sort  of  correspond- 
ence. When  a  boy  decides  that  he  has  fallen  in  love 
with  a  schoolmate  or  with  any  other  young  girl,  no 
matter  whether  he  knows  her  or  not,  he  writes  her  a 
letter  in  the  first  person  similar  to  the  above.  If  she 
ignores  the  letter  utterly,  he  understands  that  he  does 
not  please  her  —  in  brief,  that  "No  Irish  need  apply." 
But  if  she  answers  in  a  highly  moral  strain,  professing 
to  be  deeply  shocked  at  his  presumption,  and  inform- 
ing him  that  she  sees  no  way  to  continue  the  acquaint- 
ance, he  knows  that  all  is  well.  He  sends  her  another 
letter,  breathing  undying  love,  and  takes  steps  to  be 
introduced  at  her  home.  Once  having  obtained  a  call- 
ing acquaintance,  he  calls  at  intervals,  accompanied 
by  seven  or  eight  other  young  men,  and,  in  the  general 
hilarity  of  a  large  gathering,  endeavors  to  snatch  a 
moment  in  which  to  gaze  into  the  star-like  eyes  of  his 
innamorata,  or  to  gloat  over  her  "hairs  which  are  the 
most  beautiful." 

The  lover's  habit  of  fortifying  himself  with  the  so- 
ciety of  his  fellow  men  would  be  the  last  which  an 
American  boy  could  understand.  But  a  Filipino  swain 
rarely  presents  himself  alone  at  a  house  to  call.  He 
feels,  perhaps,  that  it  makes  him  conspicuous.     The 


FILIPINO    YOUTHS  AND  MAIDENS       123 

whole  race,  for  that  matter,  is  given  to  the  habit  of 
calling  in  droves.  If  a  Filipino  girl  goes  to  an  office 
on  business,  her  mother  and  father  do  not  constitute 
a  sufficient  escort.  Her  brothers,  cousins,  a  few  ad- 
mirers, and  possibly  a  female  friend  or  two  are  added 
to  the  parental  guardians,  till  the  bodyguard  assumes 
the  appearance  of  a  delegation  large  enough  to  nego- 
tiate a  treaty.  One  of  the  division  superintendents 
tells  a  story  which  shows  the  humorous  American  rec- 
ognition of  the  inconveniences  of  this  habit.  The  Su- 
perintendent had  recommended  two  young  girls  as 
pensionadas,  or  government  students,  in  the  Manila 
Normal  School.  It  was  their  duty,  on  arriving  in  Ma- 
nila, to  report  to  the  Director  of  Education ;  and  they 
must  have  done  so  in  the  usual  force,  for  the  Direct- 
or's official  telegram,  announcing  their  arrival,  began 

in  this  pleasing  strain:  "Miss and  Miss . 

with  relatives  and  friends,  called  this  morning." 

The  premature  adolescence  of  the  Filipino  youth 
makes  him  very  repellent  to  the  American.  One  of 
the  most  frightful  things  which  I  ever  saw  was  a  play 
given  in  Spanish  by  children.  The  play  itself  was  one 
which  Americans  would  never  have  permitted  children 
to  read  or  to  see,  much  less  to  present.  The  principal 
character  was  a  debauched  and  feeble  old  man  of  the 
''Parisian  Romance"  type;  it  was  played  by  a  nine- 
year-old  boy,  who  made  the  hit  of  the  evening,  and 
who  reminded  me,  in  his  interpretation  of  the  part,  of 
Richard  Mansfield.  His  family  and  friends  were  proud 
of  his  acting,  which  was  masterly,  and  laughingly  de- 
clared that  his  conception  of  the  role  was  wholly  his 


124     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

own.    If  so,  there  was  no  need  of  laughter  and  there 
was  much  cause  for  tears. 

Here  is  a  short  essay  written  by  a  twelve-year-old 
boy,  in  response  to  an  order  to  write  a  composition 
about  what  he  had  done  the  previous  day. 

"Yesterday  I  called  upon  all  my  young  lady  friends. 
None  but  the  fathers  appeared.  We  must  all  be  judged 
according  to  our  works." 

The  child  wrote  this  by  constructing  the  first  sen- 
tence himself,  and  by  picking  the  other  two  out  of 
phrase-books,  which  from  some  source  or  other  are 
scattered  all  over  the  Philippine  Islands.  What  he 
meant  to  convey  in  the  carefully  pieced  mosaic  was 
that  he  was  a  dangerous  fellow,  and  that  when  he 
came  around  the  fathers  kept  a  close  eye  on  their 
daughters.  That  is  dubious  wit  in  a  man  of  thirty. 
In  a  child  of  twelve  it  is  loathsome. 

Engagements  are  usually  announced  at  once  and  are 
seldom  long  —  from  three  weeks  to  three  or  four 
months.  If  the  marriage  is  really  for  love,  as  is  not 
infrequently  the  case,  the  lovers  must  have  a  hard 
time  of  it;  for  they  never  see  each  other  alone,  and 
"spooning"  before  others  would  seem  to  them  in  the 
last  degree  scandalous.  They  have  marvellous  self- 
control.  I  have  watched  many  a  pair  of  Filipino 
lovers  for  the  stolen  glances,  the  shyness,  the  ever- 
present  consciousness  of  each  other  which  are  charac- 
teristic of  our  lovers,  and  I  have  never  beheld  the 
faintest  evidence  of  interest  in  any  engaged  or  newly 
married  couple.    They  manage  to  preserve  an  abso- 


FILIPINO    YOUTHS  AND  MAIDENS       125 

lutely  wooden  appearance  at  a  time  when  one  would 
expect  a  race  so  volatile  to  display  its  emotions  freely. 

Elopements  sometimes  take  place  and  are  called  the 
boda  Americana,  or  American  marriage.  However,  they 
have  the  advantage  of  us  in  one  kind  of  elopement  — 
that  of  the  widow.  Runaway  marriages  between 
widows  and  old  bachelors  are  not  a  common  feature 
of  American  life,  but  they  seem  to  constitute  the  most 
frequent  form  of  elopement  here.  Forced  marriages 
occur  in  spite  of  the  restrictions  put  around  young 
girls.  They  cause  a  ten  days'  hubbub,  winks,  nods, 
and  much  giggling  behind  fans.  But  no  social  punish- 
ment and  ostracism  of  the  girl  follows  as  in  our  own 
country.  So  long  as  the  marriage  is  accomplished,  the 
Filipinos  seem  to  feel  that  the  fact  of  its  being  a  little 
late  need  disturb  no  one.  But  if,  as  sometimes  happens, 
a  girl  is  led  astray  by  a  married  man,  then  disgrace 
and  punishment  are  her  lot.  I  recall  a  circumstance 
where  a  young  girl  under  a  cloud  left  her  native  town, 
never  to  appear  there  again.  But  less  than  three 
months  after  her  banishment,  her  seducer  was  an 
honored  guest,  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  her  brother, 
in  the  brother's  own  house.  Apparently  the  best  of 
feeling  prevailed  over  a  matter  that  with  us  could  never 
have  been  forgiven,  though  bloodshed  might  perhaps 
have  been  averted. 

In  my  eight  years  in  those  Islands  I  have  met  among 
the  upper  classes  but  one  young  girl  whose  conduct 
offered  reason  to  men  to  take  her  lightly.  In  a  pretty, 
childish  way,  Filipino  girls  are  coquettes,  but  they  are 
not  flirts.    Their  conception  of  marriage  and  of  their 


126     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

duty  to  their  own  husbands  and  their  children  is  a 
high  and  noble  one.  Nevertheless,  with  innately  good 
and  pure  instincts,  they  cannot  take  half  as  good  care 
of  themselves  as  can  the  American  girl  who  is  more 
indiscreet,  who  knows  much  less  of  the  matters  per- 
taining to  love  and  sex.  The  latter  has  an  infinite 
advantage  over  her  dusky  sister  in  the  prudery  of 
speech  which  is  the  outwork  in  a  line  of  fortifications 
in  which  a  girl's  tenacity  to  her  own  ideal  of  chastity 
must  be  the  final  bulwark.  A  frankness  of  speech 
prevails  in  the  Philippines  with  regard  to  matters  about 
which  we  are  frank  under  necessity,  but  which,  as  far 
as  possible,  we  slide  into  the  background.  Stories  are 
told  in  the  presence  of  young  girls,  and  jokes  are  inter- 
changed, of  more  than  questionable  nature  according 
to  our  standards.  Our  prudery  of  speech  is  the  natural 
result  of  the  liberty  permitted  to  women.  When  the 
protection  of  an  older  woman  or  of  a  male  relative  is 
done  away  with,  and  a  girl  is  permitted  to  go  about 
quite  unattended,  the  best  and  the  surest  protection 
that  she  can  have  is  the  kind  of  modesty  that  takes 
fright  at  even  a  bare  mention,  a  bare  allusion,  to  cer- 
tain ordinarily  ignored  facts  of  life. 

The  result  of  general  freedom  of  speech  and  the 
process  of  safeguarding  a  girl  from  its  results  is  to  make 
a  Filipino  girl  regard  her  virtue  as  something  foreign 
to  herself,  a  property  to  be  guarded  by  her  relatives. 
If,  through  negligence  or  ignorance  on  the  part  of  her 
proper  guardians,  she  is  exposed  to  temptation,  she 
feels  herself  free  from  responsibility  in  succumbing. 
Such  a  view  of  life  puts  a  young  girl  at  a  great  dis- 


FILIPINO    YOUTHS  AND  MAIDENS       127 

advantage  with  men,  especially  with  men  so  generally 
unscrupulous  as  Filipinos. 

Among  the  lower  classes  there  is  no  idea  that  a 
young  girl  can  respect  herself  or  take  care  of  herself. 
Girls  are  watched  like  prisoners,  and  are  never  allowed 
to  stray  out  of  the  sight  of  some  old  woman.  It  is 
almost  impossible  for  an  American  woman  to  obtain 
a  young  girl  to  train  as  a  servant,  because,  as  they 
say,  we  do  not  watch  them  properly.  This  jealous 
watching  of  a  child's  virtue  is  not,  however,  always  k 
inspired  by  the  love  of  purity.  Too  frequently  the 
motive  is  that  the  girl  may  bring  a  higher  price  when 
she  reaches  a  marriageable  age,  or  when  she  enters 
into  one  of  those  unsanctified  alliances  with  some  one 
who  will  support  her.  Filipino  men  are  merciless  in 
their  attitude  toward  young  lower-class  girls,  not  hes- 
itating to  insult  or  annoy  them  in  the  most  shameless 
way.  I  once  forced  a  little  maid  of  mine  to  wear  the 
regular  maid's  dress  of  black,  with  muslin  cap  and 
apron,  and  she  was  certainly  a  joy  to  the  eye;  but  one 
day  I  sent  her  out  on  an  errand,  and  she  came  back 
almost  hysterical  under  the  torrent  of  ribald  admira- 
tion which  my  thoughtlessness  had  brought  upon  her. 
A  seamstress  will  not  remain  alone  in  your  house  while 
you  run  into  a  neighbor's  on  an  errand  without  bolting 
herself  in  the  room;  and,  if  you  are  to  be  gone  any 
length  of  time,  she  will  not  stay  there  at  all,  simply 
because  she  is  afraid  of  your  men  servants  —  and 
justly  so. 

However,   in  respect  to  such  matters,   things  are 
changing  fast.    The  Filipinos  who  love  us  least,  high 


128     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

or  low,  rich  or  poor,  admit  that  the  American  idea  of 
treating  every  self-respecting  woman  with  respect  is 
a  good  thing.  They  remark  frequently  the  difference 
between  now  and  former  times,  and  say,  with  admira- 
tion, that  a  woman  can  go  past  the  cuartels,  or  the  fire 
stations,  without  encountering  insult  in  the  form  of 
galanteria;  and  the  electric  street-car  line,  suspected 
at  first,  has  gained  the  confidence  of  nearly  all.  Many 
Filipino  families  of  the  upper  class  permit  their  daugh- 
ters to  go  to  and  from  the  American  schools  on  the 
trolley  car,  and  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  see  three 
or  four  youngsters,  all  under  ten,  climbing  on  and  off 
with  their  books,  asking  for  transfers,  and  enjoying 
their  liberty,  who  ten  years  ago  would  have  been 
huddled  into  a  quilez  and  guarded  by  an  elderly  woman 
servant. 

Lastly,  a  bill  for  female  suffrage  was  introduced  into 
v  it  he  Philippine  Assembly  a  few  weeks  ago.  It  is  one  of 
those  "best"  things  which  Filipinos  all  want  for  their 
land.  The  young  man  who  introduced  it  had  prob- 
ably been  reading  about  the  female  suffragist  move- 
ment in  England,  and  he  said  to  himself  that  it  would 
be  a  fine  idea  to  show  this  dull  old  world  how  progres- 
sive and  modern  are  the  Philippine  Islands ;  and  so  he 
drafted  his  bill.  Nothing  seems  to  have  been  heard  of 
it,  and  it  was  probably  tabled,  with  much  other  pro- 
gressive legislation,  in  the  hurry  of  the  last  days  of  the 
session.  Another  bill  was  one  to  put  an  annual  license 
of  one  thousand  pesos  (five  hundred  gold  dollars)  on 
every  minister  of  the  gospel,  Protestant  or  Catholic. 
I  suspect  its  parent  of  having  been  coached  up  on 


FILIPINO   YOUTHS  AND  MAIDENS       129 

modern  French  thought.  However,  that  is  not  per- 
tinent to  the  woman  question.  What  I  desire  to  do 
is  to  give  a  correct  impression  of  a  country  where 
real  conditions  are  such  as  I  have  described  them,  and 
ideal  conditions  have  advanced  to  the  point  of  a  bill 
for  female  suffrage. 


CHAPTER  ELEVEN 

SOCIAL  AND   INDUSTRIAL   CONDITION  OF  THE   FILIPINOS 

American  and  Tagalog  Invaders  of  Visaya  compared  — 
Doubt  as  to  the  Aptitude  of  Filipinos  for  Self-govern- 
ment —  Their  Civilization  not  achieved  by  themselves 
but  inherited  from  spain  —  their  present  personal 
Liberty  —  Belief  of  the  Poor  that  Alien  Occupation 
is  the  Root  of  their  Misery  —  How  the  Filipinos  view 
Labor  —  Their  Apathy  toward  Machinery  —  Their  In- 
terest   CENTRED    NOT   IN    INDUSTRY   BUT  IN   THEMSELVES  — 

Their  Hazy  Conceptions  of  Government  —  Their  Need 
of  a  Remodelled  Social  System  —  Their  Jealousy  lest 
Others  make  Large  Profits  in  dealing  with  them  — 
Zeal  of  the  Aristocrats  to  preserve  their  Preroga- 
tives —  A  New  Aristocracy  likely  to  be  raised  by  the 
American  Public  Schools. 

CAPIZ  was  occupied  by  a  company  of  the 
Tenth  Cavalry  and  one  of  the  Sixth  Infantry. 
The  relations  between  Americans  and  Fili- 
pinos seemed  most  cordial.  There  had  never  been  any 
fighting  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the  town. 
The  Visayans  are  a  peaceful  race ;  even  in  the  insurrec- 
tion against  Spain  the  Capizenos  felt  a  decided  pro- 
Spanish  sentiment.  Early  in  the  rebellion  a  few 
boat-loads  of  Tagalog  soldiers  came  down  from  Luzon, 
and  landed  on  the  open  north  coast  two  miles  from  the 
town.  The  valiant  Capizenos  had  dug  some  trenches  on 
the  beach  and  had  thrown  up  a  breastwork  there,  and 
they  went  out  to  fight  for  Spain  and  Visaya.  They 
fired  two  rounds  without  disconcerting  the  Tagalogs 


SOCIAL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  CONDITION      131 

very  much,  and  then,  having  no  more  ammunition, 
they  "all  ran  home  again,"  as  my  informant  naively 
described  it.  The  Tagalogs  took  possession  of  the 
town,  and  the  Visayans  lived  in  fear  and  trembling. 
Nearly  all  women,  both  wives  and  young  girls,  carried 
daggers  in  fear  of  assault  from  Tagalog  soldiers.  Some 
declared  to  me  that  they  would  have  used  the  daggers 
upon  an  assailant,  others  told  me  that  the  weapons 
were  intended  as  a  last  resort  for  themselves.  The 
Spanish  wife  of  our  Governor  said  that  during  the  time 
of  Tagalog  occupation  she  seldom  ventured  out  of  her 
home ;  that  she  discarded  her  European  dress,  affected 
the  native  costume,  wore  her  hair  hanging  down  her 
back,  and  tried  in  every  way  to  keep  from  attracting 
the  attention  of  the  invaders.  Nevertheless,  several 
young  girls  were  seized  in  spite  of  their  parents'  efforts 
to  protect  them.  Many  families  fled  from  the  town 
and  took  refuge  in  the  mountain  villages  inland. 
Others  lived  in  boats,  lurking  about  the  rivers  and  the 
innumerable  waterways  which  criss-cross  the  swampy 
coast  plain.  When  the  Tagalogs  withdrew,  the  wan- 
derers returned  to  their  homes,  only  to  make  a  fresh 
exodus  when  the  Americans  came. 

The  Americans  did  not  land  on  the  north  coast,  but 
entered  the  town  from  the  south,  having  marched  and 
fought  their  way  up  the  full  length  of  the  island  from 
Iloilo.  Horrid  rumors  preceded  them  concerning  their 
gigantic  size  and  their  bloodthirsty  habits.  It  was 
reported  that  they  had  burned  hundreds  of  women 
and  children  alive  at  Iloilo.  The  timid  Capizenos  had 
no  idea  of  resistance,  but,  for  the  most  part,  closed 


1/ 


132     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

their  houses,  leaving  some  old  servant  in  charge,  and 
took  once  more  to  the  hills  and  the  swamps.  A  few 
sage  heads  had  their  own  reasons  for  doubting  the 
alleged  American  ferocity,  and  decided  to  stay  at 
home  and  risk  it. 

One  of  my  pupils,  a  very  intelligent  young  girl,  de- 
scribed to  me  the  American  entry.  She  said  that  the 
houses  of  the  rich  were  closed,  shell  windows  were 
drawn  to,  and  the  iron-sheathed  outer  doors  were  locked 
and  barred.  But  most  shell  windows  have  in  the  centre 
a  little  pane  of  glass  to  permit  the  occupants  of  the 
house  to  look  out  without  being  seen.  My  young  friend 
told  me  how  her  family  were  all  "  peeking,"  breathless, 
at  their  window  pane,  and  how  the  first  view  of  the 
marching  columns  struck  fear  to  their  hearts,  so  tall 
and  powerful  seemed  the  well-clad,  well-armed  men. 
At  hal  was  called,  and  after  the  proper  formalities  at  the 
provoste,  or  town  hall,  the  municipality  was  handed  over 
to  American  rule,  and  the  Stars  and  Stripes  floated 
from  the  local  flagstaff.  The  soldiers  were  permitted 
to  break  ranks,  and  they  began  buying  fruits  and  bottles 
of  beer  and  of  native  wine  in  the  tiendas,  or  shops.  The 
soldiers  overpaid,  of  course,  joked,  picked  up  the  single- 
shirted  pickaninnies,  tossed  them,  kissed  them,  and 
otherwise  displayed  their  content.  Then,  said  my  in- 
formant, her  father  (who  is  an  astute  old  fellow)  de- 
cided that  the  story  of  American  ferocity  was  a  lie. 
He  ordered  his  house  opened,  and  the  shell  windows 
slid  back,  revealing  his  pretty  daughters  in  their  best 
raiment,  smiling  and  bowing.  The  officers  raised  their 
caps  and  gave  back  smiles  and  bows;   a  few  natives 


SOCIAL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  CONDITION      133 

cried,  "Viva  los  Americanos,"  and  behold,  the  terrible 
event  was  all  over. 

Acquaintance  was  at  once  struck  up.  The  officers 
came  to  pay  their  respects,  drank  beer  and  muscatel, 
consumed  sweets,  and  paid  florid  compliments  in 
Spanish.  They  began  to  take  possession  of  those  houses 
whose  owners  were  out  of  town,  and  the  news  went  out. 
Then  there  was  as  great  a  scramble  to  get  back  as  there 
had  been  to  get  away.  In  a  few  days  everything  was 
running  smoothly,  and,  as  my  interlocutor  remarked, 
all  the  American  officers  were  much  in  love  with  the 
charming  Filipino  girls. 

Almost  the  first  act  of  the  military  was  to  open  the 
schools.  The  schoolhouses  had  been  used  as  barracks 
by  the  Tagalogs.  The  chaplain  of  the  Eighteenth  In- 
fantry, the  children  told  me,  was  their  first  teacher. 
The  opening  of  the  schools  was  a  great  surprise  to  the 
Filipinos,  who  were  clever  enough  to  appreciate  the 
national  standards  which  the  act  implied. 

At  the  time  of  my  arrival  the  foregoing  facts  were, 
in  the  rush  of  events,  almost  ancient  history.  Two 
years  had  passed.  American  women,  wives  of  officers, 
had  come  and  gone.  Peace  had  been  declared  and  the 
machinery  of  civil  government  had  been  put  in  action. 

It  would  be  foolish  for  me  to  spend  time  discussing 
the  Filipino's  aptitude  for  self-government.  Wiser  heads 
than  mine  have  already  arrived  at  a  hopeless  impasse 
of  opinion  on  that  point.  There  are  peculiarities  of 
temperament  in  the  Filipino  people  which  are  seldom 
discussed  in  detail,  but  which  offer  premises  for  state- 
ments and  denials,  not  infrequently  acrimonious,  and 


134     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

rarely  approached  in  a  desire  to  make  those  judging 
from  a  distance  take  into  consideration  all  that  makes 
opinions  reliable.  Such  peculiarities  of  character  seem 
to  me  pertinent  to  a  book  which  deals  with  impressions. 

Whatever  their  capacity  for  achieving  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  ideal  of  self-government,  it  ought  to  be  recog- 
nized that  the  Filipinos  are  both  aided  and  handicapped 
by  receiving  not  only  their  government  but  their  civili- 
zation ready  made.  Their  newly  aroused  sense  of 
nationality  is  asserting  itself  at  a  period  in  the  world's 
development  when  the  mechanical  aids  to  industry  and 
the  conscience  of  a  humane  and  civilized  world  relieve 
Filipino  development  from  the  birth  throes  by  which 
other  nations  have  struggled  to  the  place  at  which  the 
Filipinos  begin.  Thus,  at  the  same  time  that  individuals 
are  spared  the  painful  experiences  which  have  moulded 
and  ^hardened  the  individual  units  of  other  races,  the 
Filipinos  have,  as  a  race,  received  an  artificial  impetus 
which  tends  to  deceive  them  as  to  their  own  capacity, 
and  to  increase  their  aggregate  self-confidence,  while 
the  results  of  personal  ineptitude  are  continually  over- 
looked or  excused. 

Both  civilization,  as  acquired  in  the  three  hundred 
years  of  Spanish  occupation,  and  self-government  have 
descended  upon  the  Filipino  very  much  as  the  tele- 
phone and  the  music  box  have  done  —  as  complete 
mechanisms  which  certain  superficial  touches  will  set 
in  motion,  the  benefits  of  which  are  to  certain  classes 
and  individuals  quite  obvious,  and  the  basic  principles 
of  which  they  have  memorized  but  have  not  felt.  *  At 
present  there  are  not,  in  the  emotional  being  of  the 


SOCIAL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  CONDITION      135 

JEilipinos,  the  convictions  about  liberty  and  govern- 
ment which  are  the  heritage  of  a  people  whose  ancestors 
have  achieved  liberty  and  enlightenment  by  centuries 
of  unaided  effort,  and  who  are  willing  to  die  —  die 
one  and  all  —  rather  than  lose  them ;  and  yet  there  is 
a  sincere,  a  passionate  desire  for  political  independence,  y 
The  Filipino  leaders,  however,  have  no  intention  of 
dying  for  political  independence,  nor  do  they  desire  to 
sacrifice  even  their  personal  pleasures  or  their  effects. 
They  talk  a  great  deal  about  independence,  they  write 
editorials  about  it,  it  fills  a  great  part  of  their  thoughts ; 
and  no  reasonable  person  can  doubt  their  sincerity. 
But  most  of  the  political  talk  in  the  Philippines  is  on  a 
par  with  certain  socialistic  thought  in  the  United  States 
—  the  socialistic  talk  of  modern  writers  and  speakers, 
of  idealists  and  dreamers.  It  seems  as  great  a  perver- 
sion of  abstract  justice,  to  a  Filipino,  that  an  alien 
nation  should  administer  his  Government,  as  it  seems  to 
a  hard-working  American  woman  that  she  should  toil 
all  her  life,  contributing  her  utmost  to  the  world's 
progress  and  the  common  burden  of  humanity,  while 
her  more  fortunate  sisters,  by  the  mere  accident  of 
birth,  spend  their  lives  in  idleness  and  frivolity,  en- 
riched by  the  toil  of  a  really  useful  element  in  society. 
But  to  most  Filipinos,  as  to  most  American  women,  vy' 
the  contemplation  of  the  elemental  injustice  of  life  does 
not  bring  pangs  sufficient  to  drive  them  into  overt 
action  to  right  the  injustice.  There  are  a  few  Filipinos 
upon  whom  the  American  administration  in  the  Phil- 
ippines presses  with  a  sense  of  personal  obstruction  and 
weight  heavy  enough  to  make  them  desire  overt  action ; 


136     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

but  upon  the  majority  of  the  race  the  fact  of  an  alien 
occupation  sits  very  lightly.  No  man,  American  or  Fili- 
pino, wants  to  risk  his  life  for  the  abstract  principles  of 
human  justice  until  the  circumstances  of  life  growing 
out  of  the  violation  of  those  principles  are  well-nigh 
unendurable  to  him.  The  actual  condition  of  the  Phil- 
ippines is  such  that  the  violation  of  abstract  justice  — 
that  is,  alien  occupation  —  does  not  bear  heavily  upon 
the  mass  of  the  people.  For  the  entire  race  alien  occu- 
pation is,  for  the  time  being,  an  actual  material  benefit. 
Personal  liberty  in  the  Philippines  is  as  absolute  as 
personal  liberty  in  the  United  States  or  England. 
Far  from  making  any  attempt  to  keep  the  native  in  a 
condition  of  ignorance,  the  alien  occupiers  are  trying 
to  coax  or  prod  him,  by  all  the  short  cuts  known  to 
humanity,  into  th£  semblance  of  a  modern  educated 
progressive  man//  There  is  no  prescription  which  they 
have  tried  and  found  good  for  themselves  which  they 
are  not  importing  for  the  Philippines,  to  be  distributed 
like  tracts.  And  to  the  quick  criticism  which  Filipinos 
of  the  restless  kind  are  prone  to  make,  that  what  is 
good  for  an  American  is  not  necessarily  good  for  a  Fili- 
pino, the  alien  occupiers  may  reply  that,  until  the  body 
of  the  Filipino  people  shows  more  interest  in  develop- 
ing itself,  any  prescription,  whether  it  originate  with 
Americans  or  with  those  who  look  upon  themselves  as 
the  natural  guides  and  rulers  of  this  people,  is  an  ex- 
periment to  be  tried  at  the  ordinary  experimental  risk. 
The  common  people  of  the  Philippine  Islands  enjoy 
a  personal  liberty  never  previously  obtained  by  a  class 
so  rudimentary  in  its  education  and  in  its  industrial 


SOCIAL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  CONDITION      137 

development.  They  would  fight  blindly,  at  the  com- 
mand of  their  betters,  but  not  because  they  are  more 
patriotic  than  the  educated  classes.  The  aristocrats, 
who  would  certainly  hesitate  to  fight  for  their  convic- 
tions, really  think  a  great  deal  more  about  their  coun- 
try and  love  it  a  great  deal  more  than  do  the  common 
people,  who  would,  under  very  little  urging,  cheerfully 
risk  their  lives.  But  the  poorer  people  live  under  con- 
ditions that  seem  hard  and  unjust  to  them.  The 
country  is  economically  in  a  wretched  state,  and  the 
working-classes  have  neither  the  knowledge  nor  the 
ambition  to  apply  themselves  to  its  development. 
Unable  to  discover  the  real  cause  of  their  misery  (which 
is  simply  their  own  sloth),  they  have  heard  just  enough 
political  talk  to  make  them  fancy  that  the  form  of 
government  is  responsible  for  their  unhappy  condition. 
With  them  the  causes  which  drive  men  into  dying  for 
an  abstract  idea  do  exist ;  and  it  is  easy  for  a  dema- 
gogue to  convince  them  that  the  alien  occupation  is 
the  root  of  all  evil,  and  that  a  political  change  would 
make  them  all  rich. 

Among  the  extremely  poor  of  the  Filipinos  there 
exists  a  certain  amount  of  bitterness  against  Americans, 
because  they  think  that  our  strong  bodies,  our  un- 
doubtedly superior  health  and  vitality,  our  manner  of 
life,  which  seems  to  them  luxurious  past  human  dreams, 
and  our  personal  courage  are  attributes  which  we  enjoy 
at  their  expense.  The  slow  centuries  which  have  gone 
to  our  building  up,  mental  and  physical,  are  causes 
too  remote  for  their  limited  thinking  powers  to  take 
into  consideration.    Moreover,  though  we  say  that  we 


^ 


\S 


138     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

v 
have  come  to  teach  them  to  work  and  to  make  their 

country  great,  we  ourselves  do  not  work;  at  least, 
they  do  not  call  what  we  do  work.  A  poor  Filipino's  con- 
ception of  work  is  of  something  that  takes  him  into  the 
sun  or  that  soils  his  clothing.  Filipinos  hate  and  fear 
the  sun  just  as  they  hate  the  visible  tokens  of  toil  on 
their  persons.  Where  they  know  the  genteel  trades 
such  as  hat  weaving,  dressmaking,  embroidering,  tailor- 
ing, and  silversmithing,  there  is  relatively  a  fair  indus- 
trial willingness.  Men  are  willing  to  be  cooks  and  house 
servants,  but  they  do  not  want  to  learn  carpentry  or 
blacksmithing  or  gardening,  all  of  which  mean  soiled 
clothes  and  hot  woik;  and  women  are  unwilling  to 
work  in  the  kitchen.  *From  the  poor  Filipinos'  stand- 
point, the  Americans  do  not  work  —  they  rule.  It 
would  be  difficult  to  make  a  Filipino  of  the  laboring 
class  believe  that  a  teacher  or  a  provincial  treasurer 
had  done  a  day's  work.  Loving,  as  all  Filipinos  do,  to 
give  orders  to  others,  ignorant  as  they  are  of  the  re- 
sponsibilities which  press  upon  those  who  direct,  they 
see  merely  that  we  do  not  soil  our  hands,  and  they  envy 
yfe  without  giving  us  credit  for  the  really  hard  work 
/that  we  do. 

^  Meanwhile  there  pours  in  upon  the  country  a  stream 
of  modern  mechanism  and  of  modern  formulated 
thought,  and  the  laborer  has  just  as  little  real  interest 
in  knowing  what  is  inside  the  machine  as  his  slightly 
more  intelligent  neighbor  has  in  examining  the  thought 
and  in  accepting  or  rejecting  it  on  its  merits.  Some 
accept  all  that  we  offer  them,  doing  so  in  a  spirit  of 
real  loyalty,  on  the  assumption  that  we  know  more  than 


SOCIAL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  CONDITION      139 

they  do,  and  that  our  advice  is  to  be  accepted.  Others 
reject  everything  with  a  blind  resentment  because  it 
comes  from  our  hands.  They  feel  that,  in  accepting  or 
rejecting,  they  are  demonstrating  their  capacity  to  do 
their  own  thinking,  when  in  reality  they  are  only  as- 
serting their  right  to  do  their  own  feeling.  A  sense  of 
discrimination  in  what  they  accept  or  reject  in  our 
thought  has  not  yet  appeared,  to  any  great  extent,  in 
those  classes  of  Filipinos  with  whom  I  have  come  in  con- 
tact; nor  as  yet  have  I  ever  beheld  in  the  laboring 
classes  a  desire  to  understand  the  mechanisms  to 
which  they  are  constantly  introettfced,  which  will  be  the 
first  symptoms  of  growth.  ^/ 

A  few  weeks  ago  a  Filipino  workman  was  making  an 
electric  light  installation  in  my  house.  He  handled  the 
wires  very  carelessly,  and  I  asked  him  if  he  was  not 
afraid  of  a  shock.  On  his  replying  that  the  current  was 
very  light,  I  put  the  inevitable  American  query,  How 
did  the  company  manage  to  get  a  light  current  on  one 
street,  and  at  the  same  time  to  keep  up  the  current  in 
other  parts  of  the  city?  His  reply  was,  " There  is  a  box 
on  Calle  San  Andres,  and  the  current  goes  in  strong  on 
one  side  and  comes  out  light  on  the  other."  On  my 
asking  if  he  knew  how  the  box  was  able  to  produce  such 
a  result,  he  replied  blithely  that  he  did  not  know ;  and 
to  a  third  question,  why  he  did  not  try  to  find  out,  he 
asked  me  why  he  should  want  to  know.  He  was  a  very 
ignorant  man,  but  his  attitude  was  not  uncharacter- 
istic of  much  wiser  men  than  he.  I  discovered  one  morn- 
ing, in  talking  to  the  most  advanced  class  in  the  Manila 
School  of  Arts  and  Trades,  that  not  one  of  them  knew 


140     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

what  steam  is,  or  had  any  idea  of  how  it  is  applied  to 
manufacture  ;  and  yet  they  were  working  every  day, 
and  had  been  working,  most  of  them  for  two  or  three 
years,  in  the  machine-shops  and  the  wood-working 
shops  where  a  petroleum  engine  was  in  constant  opera- 
tion. The  boys  had  shown  such  a  courteous  interest 
in  what  was  pointed  out  to  them,  and  had  so  little 
real  interest  and  curiosity  in  what  they  were  working 
with,  that  their  shop  teachers  had  never  guessed 
that  they  did  not  know  the  elementary  principles  of 
mechanics. 

If  a  flying  machine  should  suddenly  descend  in  an 
American  village  with  no  sign  of  steam  gear,  electric 
motor,  compressed  air,  or  any  other  motive  power  with 
which  we  are  familiar,  can  you  imagine  that  eighty  per 
cent  of  the  population  of  the  village  would  stand  around, 
begging  the  inventor  to  make  it  fly  and  alight  again, 
exhibiting  all  the  delight  of  children  in  a  strange  toy, 
but  giving  it  not  one  close  glance,  one  touch  to  deter- 
mine how  it  is  made,  and  not  even  wondering  anything 
about  it?  Can  you  imagine  all  those  people  placidly 
accepting  the  fact  that  there  are  other  nations  inter- 
ested in  making  strange  machines,  and  receiving  the 
strange  toy  as  an  example  of  foreign  energy  with  which, 
at  that  or  at  any  other  time,  they  had  no  concern? 
Yet  such  is  the  actual  condition  of  affairs  in  the  Philip- 
pine Islands,  and  I  am  not  sure  that  my  estimate  of 
eighty  per  cent  is  not  too  low.  Filipinos  of  the  educated 
classes,  gentlemen  who  can  talk  about 

"  The  grandeur  that  was  Greece, 
J  V     And  the  glory  that  was  Rome/' 


SOCIAL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  CONDITION      141 

or  who  can  quote  Tom  Paine  or  Voltaire  or  Rousseau,  or 
discuss  the  fisherman's  ring  of  the  Pope,  or  the  possibili- 
ties of  an  Oriental  race  alliance,  would  give  a  glance  at 
such  a  machine  and  dismiss  it  with  such  a  remark  as 
this:  "Ah!  a  new  flying  machine.  Very  interesting.  If 
it  proves  practical,  it  should  be  a  great  benefit  to  the 
Philippines.  The  Government  should  buy  two  or  three 
and  put  them  in  operation  to  show  the  people  how  they 
can  be  used." 

The  great  majority  of  the  Filipino  people  are  simply 
apathetic  toward  the  material  and  spiritual  appliances 
of  their  present  status.  (Please  do  not  infer,  however, 
that  they  are  apathetic  toward  the  status  itself.)  For- 
tune is  continually  thrusting  upon  them  a  ready-made 
article,  be  it  of  transportation,  of  furniture,  of  education, 
or  even  of  creed.  With  no  factories  of  its  own,  their  land  ^/ 
is  deluged  with  cheap  manufactured  goods.  With  al- 
most no  authors,  they  have  been  inundated  with  litera- 
ture and  texts.  With  no  experience  in  government, 
they  have  a  complicated  system  presented  to  them,  and 
are  told  to  go  ahead,  to  fulfil  the  requirements,  to  press 
the  button,  and  to  let  the  system  do  the  rest.  And 
they  are,  with  few  exceptions,  making  the  mistake  of 
assuming  that  their  aptitude  in  learning  to  press  the 
button  is  equivalent  to  the  power  of  creating  the  sys- 
tem. They  are  like  some  daring  young  chauffeur  who 
finds  that  he  can  run  an  automobile,  and  can  turn  it 
and  twist  it  and  guide  it  and  control  it  with  the  same 
ease  that  its  inventor  does,  and  who  feels  that  he  is  as 
fully  its  master  —  as  indeed  he  is,  till  something  goes 
wrong. 


V 


142     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 


The  intelligent  Filipinos  who  are  pressing  for  imme- 
diate self-government  have  no  intentions  of  changing 
the  "press-the-button"  system  if  they  get  what  they 
want.  Nor  can  the  American  Government,  if  it  re- 
main here,  do  any  more  than  it  is  now  doing  to  urge 
the  Filipino  into  real  industrial  and  mental  activity. 
Until  the  Filipino  takes  more  interest  in  things  than  he 
takes  in  himself;  until  he  learns  to  approach  life  from 
some  other  standpoint  than  the  social  one,  and  with 
some  other  object  than  seeing  how  large  a  figure  he  can 
cut  in  it,  it  makes  no  difference  what  flag  flies  over  his 
head,  his  national  existence  is  an  artificial  one,  a  sem- 
blance of  living  nourished  by  the  selfishness  of  those 
with  whom  he  has  commercial  relations.  / 

The  intelligent  Filipinos  (I  speak  of  the  ordinary 
middle  classes  of  Manila  and  the  provinces,  not  of  the 
really  eminent  Filipinos  who  are  associated  with  the 
Government,  for  with  them  I  have  little  acquaint- 
ance) have  had  so  little  practical  contact  with  the  great 
world,  so  little  conception  of  what  a  strong  commercial 
and  manufacturing  nation  is,  that  it  is  impossible  to 
make  them  understand  that  no  nation  of  the  present 
day  can  achieve  greatness  except  by  industry.  If  you 
can  get  them  to  talk  freely,  you  find  them  absorbed 
in  a  glorious  dream  of  the  Filipino  people  dazzling  the 
world  with  pure  intellectuality  —  a  Philippines  lull  of 
poets,  artists,  orators,  authors,  musicians,  and,  above 
all,  of  eloquent  statesmen  and  generals.  They  do  not 
reflect  that  a  statesman  is  wasted  who  has  nothing  but 
a  handful  of  underfed  people  to  govern,  and  that  it 
is  commerce  and  agriculture  which  furnish  the  propel- 


SOCIAL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  CONDITION      143 

ling  power  to  the  ship  of  state  on  which  the  statesman 
is  a  pilot.  They  want  to  be  progressive,  and  their 
idea  of  progress  is  a  constant  stream  of  mechanical 
appliances  flowing  like  water  into  the  Philippines  lV 
from  other  lands ;  but  they  do  not  even  consider  where 
the  money  is  to  come  from  to  pay  for  all  the  things 
they  want.  They  howl  like  victims  over  taxation,  but 
they  have  a  hazy  idea  that  it  is  the  duty  of  their 
Government  to  seek  out  every  labor-saving  machine 
in  the  world  and  to  buy  it  and  to  put  it  in  operation 
in  the  Philippines  till  the  inhabitants  have  accustomed 
themselves  to  its  use,  and  have  obtained  through  its 
benefits  the  wherewithal  to  indulge  in  more  of  the 
same  sort.  They  do  not  concern  themselves  with  the 
problem  of  the  Government's  getting  the  money  to  do 
all  this,  other  than  they  think  that  if  we  Americans 
were  out  of  the  way,  and  the  six  or  eight  million  pesos  of 
revenue  which  go  annually  into  our  pockets  were  going 
to  Filipinos  instead,  there  would  be  money  in  plenty 
for  battleships,  deep-water  harbors,  railroads,  irriga- 
tion, agricultural  banks,  standing  armies,  extended 
primary  and  secondary  education;  and  that  the  re- 
sources of  the  Government  would  even  permit  of  the 
repeal  of  the  land  tax,  of  the  abolition  of  internal 
revenue  taxes,  and  of  the  lowering  of  the  tariff.  One 
of  their  favorite  dreams  of  raising  money  is  to  put  a 
tremendously  high  license  upon  all  foreigners  doing 
business  in  the  Islands;  and  so  high  an  opinion  have 
they  both  of  their  value  to  the  world  at  large  and  of 
their  prowess,  that  they  do  not  take  into  considera- 
tion the  probability  of  the  foreigner's  either  getting 


144     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

out  of  the  country  or  appealing  to  his  own  Government 
,  J  to  protect  his  invested  capital.  When  they  speak  of 
independence,  they  invariably  assume  that  America  is 
going  to  protect  them  against  China,  Japan,  or  any  of 
the  great  colony-holding  nations  of  Europe. 

Such  are  the  peculiar  governmental  conceptions  of 
the  middle-class  Filipino  —  a  class  holding  the  ballot 
by  the  grace  of  God  and  the  assistance  of  the  American 
Government.  Their  inverted  ideas  come  from  real 
inexperience  in  highly  organized  industrial  society, 
and  from  perfectly  natural  deductions  from  books. 
When  they  study  Roman  and  Greek  history,  they 
learn  there  the  names  of  generals,  poets,  artists, 
sculptors,  statesmen,  and  historians.  Books  do  not 
dwell  upon  that  long  list  of  thriving  colonies  which 
filled  the  Grecian  archipelago  with  traffic,  and  reached 
east  and  west  to  the  shores  of  Asia  and  to  the  Pillars 
of  Hercules.  The  Filipinos  learn  that  Rome  nourished 
her  generals  and  her  emperors  upon  the  spoils  of  war, 
but  they  do  not  reflect  that  the  predatory  age  —  at 
least  in  the  Roman  sense  —  is  past.  Their  imagina- 
tions seize  upon  the  part  played  by  the  little  island 
republic  of  Venice,  and  they  gloat  over  the  magnificence 
of  the  Venetian  aristocracy,  but  they  hardly  give  a 
thought  to  the  thousands  of  glass-blowers,  to  the 
weavers  of  silken  stuffs,  to  the  shipbuilders  and  the 
artisans,  and  to  the  army  of  merchants  that  piled  up 
the  riches  to  make  Venice  a  power  on  the  Mediterranean. 
Filipinos  have  come  in  contact,  not  with  life  but 
with  books,  and  their  immediate  ambition  is  to  pro- 
duce the  things  which  are  talked  of  in  books.    Situated 


SOCIAL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  CONDITION      145 

as  these  Islands  are,  remote  from  any  great  modern 
civilization,  there  is  no  criterion  by  which  the  inhabit- 
ants can  arrive  at  a  correct  estimate  of  their  condi- 
tion. If  here  and  there  a  single  Filipino  educated  in 
Europe  should  dazzle  society  with  novels  or  plays  or 
happy  speeches,  most  of  his  .countrymen  would  be 
satisfied  with  his  vindication  of  Filipino  capacity. 

There  are  two  things  which  are  absolutely  necessary 
to  tne  future  development  of  the  Philippines,  whether 
they  remain  under  our  flag  or  become  independent. 
^One  is  a  new  aristocracy  to  be  a  new  type  of  incentive 
to  the  laborer;  the  other  is  an  increase  in  the  laborer's  ^ 
wants  which  will  keep  him  toiling  long  after  he  has 
discovered  the  futility  of  the  hopes  which  urged  him 
in  the  beginning.  At  present,  the  American  Govern- 
ment is  trying  to  remodel  a  social  system  which  con- 
sists of  a  land-holding  aristocracy  and  an  ignorant 
peasantry,  the  latter  not  exactly  willing  to  work  for 
a  pittance,  but  utterly  helpless  to  extricate  them- 
selves from  the  necessity  of  doing  so.  To  the  aristo-  I 
crat  the  Government  says,  "Come  and  aid  us  to  help  I 
thy  brother,  that  he  may  some  day  rob  thee  of  thy /l 
prerogatives"  ;  and  to  the  peasant,  "0  thou  cock-p 
fighting,  fiesta-harboring  son  of  idleness  and  good- 
nature, wake  up,  struggle,  toil,  take  thy  share  of  what 
lies  buried  in  thy  soil  and  waves  upon  thy  mountain- 
sides, and  be  as  thy  brother,  yonder."  Nor  is  my 
picture  complete  if  I  do  not  add  that,  under  his  breath, 
both  peasant  and  aristocrat  reply,  "Fool!  for  what? 
That  I  may  pick  thy  chestnuts  out  of  the  fire." 

There  is  a  story  which  illustrates  the  Filipino's 

10 


146     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

sensitiveness  to  picking  somebody  else's  chestnuts  out 
of  the  fire,  not  inappropriate  to  be  told  here.  The 
agent  of  the  Kelly  Road  Roller  Company  had  made 
an  agreement  with  a  number  of  Filipinos  in  the  Mara- 
quina  Valley  to  take  up  a  rice  thresher  and  to  thresh 
their  crops  for  one-twelfth  of  the  output.  As  this 
was  cheaper  than  the  usual  cost  of  rice-threshing, 
they  accepted  the  offer,  but  they  were  anxious  to  com- 
pare the  new  machine  with  their  own  system.  One 
way  of  threshing  rice  is  to  have  a  kind  of  stone  table 
like  an  armchair,  in  which  the  seat  is  a  bowl  for  the 
grain  which  drops  down  as  the  thresher  strikes  the 
laden  stalks  against  the  stone  back.  On  the  appointed 
day  the  American  appeared  with  his  thresher,  and  the 
Filipinos  were  on  hand  with  their  stone  table  and  a 
confident  expert  who  was  reputed  the  best  rice-thresher 
in  the  district.  The  American  began  to  feed  his  ma- 
chine, and  the  Filipino  made  his  bundles  cut  the  air. 
In  a  few  seconds  the  Filipino  had  quite  a  little  hand- 
ful of  grain  collected  in  his  stone  bowl,  but  not  a  grain 
of  rice  had  appeared  from  the  thresher.  The  workman 
cast  supercilious  glances  at  the  machine,  when  suddenly 
a  stream  of  rice  as  thick  as  his  wrist  began  to  pour 
out,  and  continued  to  pour  in  startling  disproportion 
to  his  tiny  pile.  He  stood  it  half  a  minute  and  then 
laid  down  his  bundle  of  stalks  and  strode  away.  The 
onlooking  landholders  were  at  first  amazed  and  de- 
lighted. Then  suddenly  a  horrible  thought  struck 
them !  They  got  out  their  pocket  pads  and  pencils 
and  began  to  figure.  Then  they  held  a  consultation 
and  declared  that  the  deal  was  off  —  that  for  one- 


SOCIAL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  CONDITION      147 

twelfth  the  amount  of  rice  streaming  out  of  the  thresher, 
the  American's  profits  would  be  highway  robbery  of 
the  poor  Filipino.  In  vain  the  agent  pointed  out  to 
them  that  the  one-twelfth  was  a  ratio  in  which  their 
gain  would  always  be  proportionate  to  his.  They 
could  see  nothing  except  that  he  was  going  to  make 
a  large  sum  of  money  at  their  expense.  The  economy 
of  the  thresher  over  their  own  wasteful  system  made 
no  impression  against  the  fact  that  his  commission 
would  be  a  bulk  sum  which  they  were  unwilling 
to  see  him  gain.  They  could  not  afford  to  buy  the 
machine,  but  they  stopped  the  threshing  then  and 
there;  and  the  agent  learned  that  what  is  good  ad- 
vertising in  America  is  not  necessarily  good  in  the 
Philippines. 

The  reader  may  fancy  that  he  perceives  in  this 
chapter  a  direct  contradiction  of  what  I  said  in  a  pre- 
ceding chapter  about  the  Filipino  aristocrat's  desiring 
the  best  of  everything  for  his  country.  But  the  Fil- 
ipino is  like  the  sinner  who  says  with  all  sincerity 
that  he  desires  to  be  saved,  but  who,  when  confronted 
with  the  necessity  of  giving  up  certain  of  his  pleasures 
as  the  price  of  salvation,  feels  that  salvation  comes 
rather  high,  and  begins  to  figure  on  how  he  can  accom- 
plish the  desired  result  without  personal  inconven- 
ience. The  present  land-holding  aristocracy  is  jealous 
to  the  last  degree  of  its  prerogatives,  and  it  has  fought 
every  attempt  to  equalize  taxation  and  to  make  the 
rich  bear  their  fair  share  in  the  national  expense  ac- 
count. The  land  tax  and  the  rentas  internets,  or  internal 
revenue  tax,  are  two  governmental  measures  which 


148     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

the  rich  classes  fought  to  the  extreme  of  bitterness, 
and  which  they  would  revoke  to-morrow  if  it  lay  in 
:       their  power  to  do  so. 

An  aristocracy  represents  a  survival  of*  the  fittest  — 
V  not  necessarily  the  ideally  fit,  but  the  fittest  to  meet 
\  the  conditions  under  which  it  must  prove  a  survivor. 
\The  conditions  which  Spain  created  here  to  mould 
Filipino  character  were  mediaeval,  monarchical,  and 
reactionary.  The  aristocracy  is  a  land-holding  one, 
untrained  in  the  responsibilities  of  land-holders  who 
grow  up  a  legitimate  part  of  the  body  politic  of  their 
country.  Previous  to  American  occupation  the 
aristocracy  was  excluded  from  any  share  in  the  govern- 
ment, and  the  Spaniards  were  exceedingly  jealous  of 
any  pretensions  to  knowledge  or  culture  on  its  part. 
The  aristocracy  which  could  survive  such  conditions 
had  to  do  so  by  indirectness  and  courtier-like  flattery, 
by  blandishment  and  deceit.  The  aristocrats  learned 
to  despise  the  poor  and  the  weak ;  for  the  more  extrav- 
agant the  alms-giving,  the  more  arrogant  the  secret 
attitude  of  the  giver.  They  trusted  less  to  their  own 
strength  than  to  others'  weakness.  They  relied  less 
on  their  own  knowledge  than  on  others'  ignorance. 
Whatever  solidarity  the  aristocracy  had  and  has  to- 
day is  of  a  class  nature  rather  than  of  a  racial.  In  the 
insurrection  against  Spain  it  allied  itself  with  its  lower- 
class  brethren  simply  because  Spain  forced  it  to  do 
so.  Had  the  friars  made  concessions  to  the  aristocracy 
as  a  class,  and  permitted  them  a  voice  in  Filipino 
affairs,  there  would  have  been  no  insurrection  against 
Spain,  nor  would  the  entrance  of  a  Filipino  governing 


SOCIAL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  CONDITION      149 

class  have  made  large  changes  in  the  conditions  of  the 
great  mass  of  the  Filipino  people. 

Under  a  democratic  Government  the  present  aris- 
tocracy cannot  retain  its  present  place  and  prestige, 
and  a  portion  of  its  eagerness  for  independence  comes 
from  a  recognition  of  that  fact.  The  American  Gov- 
ernment has  practically  opened  the  way  for  the  creation 
of  a  new  aristocracy  in  establishing  the  public  schools. 
In  the  provinces  the  primary  schools  are  patronized 
by  rich  and  poor  alike,  though  it  has  required  con- 
siderable effort  to  make  the  poor  people  understand 
that  their  children  have  as  much  right  to  the  enjoy- 
ment of  school  privileges  as  have  the  children  of  the 
rich.  The  secondary  schools  of  the  provinces  are 
patronized  chiefly  by  the  middle  and  upper  classes, 
and  in  the  city  of  Manila  the  children  of  the  really 
wealthy  hardly  ever  attend  the  public  schools.  The 
wealthy  citizens  of  Manila  prefer  to  send  their  sons  to 
the  religious  schools,  and  their  daughters  to  the  cole- 
gios,  or  sisterhood  schools,  of  which  there  are  many. 
While  English  is  taught  in  all  these  schools,  general 
instruction  is  in  Spanish ;  the  courses  of  study  include 
the  usual  amount  of  catechism,  expurgated  history, 
and  the  question-and-answer  method  of  "  philosophy  " 
of  the  old  Spanish  system.  If  the  American  Govern- 
ment remain  here,  a  new  aristocracy,  the  result  of  her 
public  school  system,  is  inevitable.  If  it  should  not 
remain  here,  the  Spanish-reared  product  will  con- 
tinue to  hold  its  present  place. 


CHAPTER  TWELVE 

PROGRESS  IN  POLITICS  AND  IMPROVEMENT  OF  THE 
CURRENCY 

Our  First  Election  of  a  Governor  —  More  Feeling  in  our 
Next  Election  —  We  organize  a  Self-governing  So- 
ciety in  the  School  —  Improvement  in  Parliamentary 
Procedure  —  The  Boys  imitate  the  Oratory  of  a  Real 
Politician  —  A  much- mixed  Currency  in  the  Philip- 
pines —  Losses  to  the  Teachers  through  Fluctuations 
in  Exchange  —  The  Conant  System  brings  Stability  — 
The  New  Copper  Coins  astonish  the  Natives. 

W!  had  been  in  Capiz  but  a  short  time  when 
talk  of  the  coming  election  began  to  oc- 
cupy both  Americans  and  Filipinos.  The 
Governor  of  the  province  at  that  time  held  his  position 
by  appointment  from  Mr.  Taft,  but  provisions  had 
been  made  by  the  Commission  for  an  election  at  a 
specified  time,  which  was  then  at  hand.  In  view  of 
the  fact  that  it  was  the  first  election  ever  held  in  the 
province,  we  Americans  expected  to  encounter  much 
rejoicing  over  the  newly  acquired  right,  and  a  general 
outbreak  of  gratification.  It  made  a  barely  percep- 
tible ripple.  The  Filipinos  had  not  gathered  momen- 
tum enough  under  the  new  system  to  approach  an 
election  by  the  well-recognized  channels.  There  were 
no  speeches,  no  public  gatherings,  no  processions,  and, 
so  far  as  the  mass  of  the  population  were  concerned, 


PROGRESS  IN  POLITICS  151 

no  interest  whatsoever.  There  is  not  universal  suffrage 
in  the  Philippines.  The  electors  for  the  occasion  were 
the  consejales,  or  town  councillors,  of  the  towns  in  the 
province.  On  a  given  day  they  would  assemble  to  cast 
their  votes. 

Our  appointed  Governor  was  a  candidate  to  succeed 
himself,  and  the  only  opponent  of  any  importance  was 

a  local  lawyer,  named  D .     D was  on  very  good 

terms  with  most  of  the  Americans,  who  regarded  him 
as  something  of  an  Americanista,  but  he  was  greatly 
hated  by  the  prominent  Filipino  families  in  town,  not 
only  on  the  score  of  his  suspected  pro-American  senti- 
ment, but  on  account  of  certain  meddlings  of  his  in 
past  time  with  cacique  power. 

A  short  time  before  the  election  the  American  com- 
munity were  thunderstruck   on   hearing  that  D 

had  been  arrested  on  a  charge  of  murder.  Our  Su- 
pervisor —  and,  I  believe,  the  Treasurer  —  offered  to 
go  on  his  bail.  Then  came  a  telegram  from  Judge 
Bates  at  Iloilo,  denying  bail.  For  a  day  or  two  tele- 
grams flew  back  and  forth,  the  Americans  trying  to 
secure  the  temporary  release  of  the  unfortunate  lawyer 
but  accomplishing  nothing.  D was  kept  practi- 
cally incomunicado  in  the  local  calabozo.  He  insisted 
that  there  was  a  plot  on  foot  to  destroy  him,  and  either 
he  was  much  distressed  or  he  pretended  to  be  so.  Then 
came  an  order  to  take  him  out  to  a  small  town  in  the 

interior  whence  the  charge  came.    D declared  that 

he  should  be  killed  on  the  way.  The  Americans  finally 
prevailed  upon  an  American  inspector  of  constabulary 
to  accompany  the  prisoner's  escort.    The  rainy  season 


152     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

was  in  full  force,  and  prisoner  and  escort  had  a  bad 
time  getting  out  to  Maayaon,  the  town  aforemen- 
tioned. Once  there  the  charge  broke  down  at  once. 
It  was  based  upon  a  statement  made  by  an  old  woman 
that  a  spirit  had  appeared  to  her  in  a  dream,  and  had 
accused  D of  being  the  cause  of  its  immaterial  ex- 
istence. The  prisoner  was  almost  immediately  set  at 
liberty.  For  reasons  best  known  to  himself,  he  found 
it  inconvenient  to  return  to  Capiz  and  to  renew  his 
campaign  for  the  governorship. 

By  the  fortuitous  circumstance  of  the  charge  against 

D ,  our  Governor,  who  professed  a  smiling  ignorance 

of  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  had  been  relieved 
of  his  only  formidable  rival,  and  he  prepared  to  do  the 
yf  honors  of  Capiz  to  the  consejales.  He  lived  in  the  old 
palace  of  the  Spanish  governors,  which  had  since  come 
to  serve  as  provincial  capitol  and  gubernatorial  resi- 
dence. There  was  plenty  of  room  in  the  fine  old  place, 
and  the  consejales  found  everything  to  their  satisfac- 
tion. They  had  but  to  step  out  of  their  bedrooms  to 
find  themselves  at  the  polls.  Our  Governor  was  elected 
almost  unanimously,  to  succeed  himself  for  two  years. 

That  was  doing  pretty  well  for  a  set  of  tyros  at 
politics ;  but  by  the  time  the  next  election  swung  round, 
political  feeling  had  awakened,  there  were  wheels 
within  wheels,  and  feeling  was  running  explosively 
high.  Political  parties  had  crystallized  into  two 
/  bodies,  known  as  Progresistas  and  Federalistas.  The 
Progresistas  were  the  anti-American  party,  pledged  to 
every  effort  for  immediate  independence.  The  Fed- 
eralistas were  those  who  stood  by  the  Taft  adminis- 


PROGRESS  IN  POLITICS  153 

tration,  and  talked  of  compromise  in  the  present,  and 
of  independence  at  some  distant  day.  Our  Governor, 
who  was  again  a  candidate  to  succeed  himself,  was  the 
Federalist  a  head.  The  Federalistas  accused  the  Pro- 
gresistas  of  being  "Aglipianos  "  —  that  is,  schismatics 
from  the  Roman  Church  —  and  they  hinted  that  Agli- 
pianoism  was  more  a  political  movement  than  it  was 
a  religious  one. 

Each  party  professed  itself  sceptical  of  the  good 
intentions  of  the  other.  Each  was  certain  that  the 
other  would  come  to  the  polls  with  firearms  and  bolos. 
I  began  to  worry  about  my  desks,  having  promised  to 
loan  twenty-five  nice  new  oak  ones  of  the  latest  Ameri- 
can pattern  for  the  use  of  the  consejales  in  making  out 
their  votes. 

The  officer  commanding  the  constabulary  at  that 
time  was  a  huge,  black-browed,  black-whiskered  Irish- 
man, who,  among  the  American  men,  went  by  the 
name  of  "  Paddy  "  L .  Both  parties  ran  to  Cap- 
tain L ,  clamoring  for  a  military  guard  at  the 

election.    Captain  L pooh-poohed  the  notion  that 

any  serious  trouble  could  grow  out  of  the  election, 
declined  to  consider  a  guard,  except  the  two  soldiers 
to  guard  the  ballot  box,  who  were  more  for  function 
than  for  protection,  and  smilingly  added  that  his  trust 
in  the  Filipino  sense  of  law  and  order  was  so  great  that 
he  intended  to  go  to  the  election  and  see  it  all  himself. 

By  this  time  the  Governor's  family  had  removed 
from  the  government  building,  and  a  suite  of  apart- 
ments at  the  rear  which  had  served  for  kitchen,  dining- 
room,  store-rooms  and  servants'  quarters,  had  been 


154     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

cleaned  up,  painted,  and  handed  over  to  the  Provincial 
Intermediate  School,  of  which  I  was  principal.  One 
of  our  school-rooms  was  connected  by  an  uncurtained 
glass  door  with  the  great  central  hall  of  the  building, 
which  was  usually  given  over  to  the  Court  of  the  First 
Instance,  but  which  was,  that  day,  a  sort  of  ante- 
room to  the  voting  precinct  located  in  the  former 
sala  of  the  palace.  My  school-room  would,  therefore, 
command  a  full  view  of  the  polls.  For  several  days  I 
lived  in  dread  of  hearing  that  election  day  would  be 
declared  a  school  holiday,  but  no  order  came  to  that 
effect,  and  on  election  day  I  went  to  school  with  my 
mind  bent  on  taking  notes  of  all  that  went  on,  also 
wondering  a  little  if  in  case  the  non-expected  riot 
came  off,  I  should  not  have  to  vacate  a  little 
hurriedly. 

By  nine  o'clock  the  court-room  was  packed  with 
electors  and  lobbyists,  or  whatever  the  interested  out- 
siders may  be  called.  Through  the  glass  doors  we 
could  see  them  in  groups,  some  laughing  and  chatting 
in  ordinary  social  converse,  others  dark  and  gloomy, 
others  gathered  in  whispering  knots  with  fingers  on 
lips,  much  mysterious  nodding  and  shrugging  of  shoul- 
ders, and  all  the  innocent  evidences  of  conspiracy.  Be- 
yond, through  double  doors,  the  voting  precinct  was 
in  full  view,  my  twenty-five  desks  occupied  by  medita- 
tive consejales,  sucking  the  ends  of  their  pencils.  There 
were  the  judges  and  the  ballot  boxes,  symbols  of  prog- 
ress and  modernity,  and  there,  too,  as  a  concession 
to  dignity  which  fills  the  Filipino  with  joy,  were  two 
dear  little  constabulary  soldiers  with  guns  about  as 


-  H0 

2  > 

|  s 

o 

§  g 

o  SS 

2.  o 


PROGRESS  IN  POLITICS  155 

long  as  themselves.  Their  khaki  suits  were  spick  and 
span  from  the  laundry,  their  red  shoulder  straps  blazed, 
their  gilt  braid  glittered,  and  their  white  gloves  were 
as  snowy  as  pipe  clay  could  make  them.  Their  little 
brown  faces  were  stolid  enough  to  delight  the  most 
ambitious  commander.  The  whole  was  a  sight  to 
cheer  the  heart  of  rampant  democracy. 

In  the  midst  of  the  throng  in  the  court-room,  jovial, 
lusty,  bright  of  eye,  loitered  our  easy-going  chief  of 
constabulary.  His  was  no  common  girth  at  any  time, 
but  belted  with  a  particularly  large-sized  and  vicious- 
looking  revolver,  he  seemed  to  be  at  least  sixty  inches 
around  the  waist.  There  was  something  casual  about 
that  revolver,  and  at  the  same  time  something  very 
significant.  But  nothing  could  have  been  more  blandly 
unconscious  than  the  Captain's  manner.  He  had  what 
is  commonly  described  as  "a  kind  word  and  a  sweet 
smile  for  everybody."  There  were  constabulary 
reserves  a  block  away,  but  the  Captain's  appearance 
was  an  assurance  that  there  would  be  no  need  for  the 
reserves.  He  loafed  about,  chatting  first  with  one 
group  and  then  with  another.  The  conspirator  looks 
gave  way  to  laughter  and  clappings  on  the  back,  but 
when  he  turned  away,  more  than  one  eye  followed  the 
time-worn  holster  and  its  bulky  contents. 

That  election  went  off  as  calmly  as  a  county  fair  — 
much  more  calmly,  indeed,  though  there  was  a  reclama 
afterwards,  and  a  long  struggle  about  it  which  had  to 
be  decided  by  the  Court  of  First  Instance.  The  quarrel 
over  the  election  was  not  related,  however,  to  the 
Captain's  presence  there. 


156     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

Apparently  the  Church  was  interested  in  the  elec- 
tion, for  every  shovel-hatted  padre  in  the  district 
seemed  to  have  come  in  for  it.  They  and  the  pro- 
vincial dignitaries  from  towns  which  had  not  then 
risen  to  the  dignity  of  an  American  public  school, 
wandered  into  the  school  in  groups  of  three  and  some- 
times of  twenty.  It  was  their  first  contact  with  co- 
education, and  they  were  highly  amused  at  the  sight  l 
of  a  class  of  boys  and  girls  working  together  in  the  i 
reduction  of  compound  fractions.  They  were  also 
delighted  with* the  choral  music,  especially  with  "The 
Watch  on  the  Rhine  "  which  the  pupils  sang  with 
great  enthusiasm. 

Not  very  long  after  that  election  we  began  our  first 
work  with  self-governing  societies.  The  school  had 
been  long  enough  established  to  have  an  advanced 
class  capable  of  speaking  English,  and  our  Division 
Superintendent  suggested  that  I  give  them  a  little 
practical  experience  in  the  "  machinery  of  politics." 
I  assented  with  outward  respect,  and  then  retired  to 
smile,  for  the  "machinery  of  politics  "  is  the  last  thing 
in  which  the  Filipino  has  need  of  instruction  from  us. 
He  is  a  born  politician,  and  we  compare  to  him  in  that 
respect  as  babes  to  a  philosopher.  But  I  recognized  ' 
that  my  pupils  did  need  the  experience  of  a  self- 
governing  society,  and  practice  in  parliamentary 
usages,  and  so  we  organized  our  society  from  the 
three  most  advanced  classes  in  the  school. 

In  the  beginning  I  organized  the  society,  acting  as 
temporary  chairman.  I  called'  for  an  election  by  in- 
formal ballot  of  short-term  officers  to  serve  until  a 


PROGRESS  IN  POLITICS  157 

time  of  regular  elections  could  be  set.  Our  first  ballot 
polled  seventy-three  votes,  although  there  were  only 
fifty-five  persons  in  the  room.  I  threw  that  out  and 
called  for  a  roll  call  vote.  In  due  time  a  regular  elec- 
tion took  place,  and  officers  for  three  months  were 
elected.  As  the  vote  was  open,  the  aristocratic  element 
came  off  best,  as  was  to  be  expected.  The  children 
of  one  prominent  family,  together  with  some  of  their 
friends,  held  every  office.  Practically  the  result  was 
not  bad.  The  officers,  four  out  of  five  of  whom  were 
girls,  represented  considerable  ability.  The  girls  weref 
elected  chiefly  out  of  the  galanteria  of  certain  of  the 
boy  aristocrats,  who  had  very  little  conception  of  what 
a  self-governing  society  means,  but  who  wished  tq 
pay  their  fair  innamoratas  a  compliment. 

Our  society  was  a  pronounced  success.  The  pupils 
took  to  parliamentary  practice  very  much  as  they 
would  to  a  new  game.  Visitors  thronged  our  Friday 
afternoon  meetings.  We  teachers  had  to  put  in  six 
or  eight  hours  every  week,  drilling  the  pupils  on  duty, 
helping  to  get  up  music,  and  meeting  with  committees. 
A  teacher  was  parliamentary  "coach,"  and  sat  at  the 
side  of  Madame  President,  giving  her  directions  in  an 
undertone.  All  the  teachers  were  elected  honorary 
members,  and  one  was  critic.  Peace  reigned  and  Joy 
flapped  her  wings. 

About  this  time,  however,  the  gentlemen  who  were 
running  that  province  engaged  in  the  real  game  which 
we  were  imitating,  and  became  involved  in  a  quarrel 
which  threatened  to  strain  the  relations  between 
Americans  and  Filipinos  to  the  breaking  point.    Gov- 


158     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

ernor  Taft  came  down  in  person  to  look  into  the  affair. 
There  was  a  banquet  and  there  were  speeches.  The 
Filipino  Governor  prefaced  his  oratorical  flight  by  the 
statement  that  three  times  only  in  his  life  had  he 
trembled.  Time  has  clouded  my  memory,  but  I 
think  he  said  the  first  of  these  was  when  he  took  his 
Bachelor's  degree  from  the  University  of  Spain;  the 
second  was  when  he  led  his  fair  partner  to  the  matri- 
monial altar;  and  the  third  was  that  present  occasion 
when  he  stood  up  before  that  illustrious  assembly, 
seeking  words  in  which  to  welcome  the  distinguished 
guest. 

He  did  not  look  as  if  he  were  suffering  from  ner- 
vousness, and  his  words  flowed  with  sufficient  ease  to 
indicate  that  he  was  not  having  much  trouble  in  the 
search.  Sitting  at  the  far  end  of  the  festal  board, 
contemplating  my  glass  of  tinto  (I  am  unable  to  say 
whether  I  drank  tinto  because  the  champagne  ran 
short  or  because,  being  feminine  and  educational,  I 
was  deemed  unworthy  of  the  best),  I  reflected  some- 
what cynically  that  if  he  was  telling  the  strict  truth, 
his  childhood  must  have  been  singularly  barren  of  the 
penalties  which  follow  real  childish  joy,  or  else  his  was 
a  remarkable  personality. 

But  that  is  neither  here  nor  there.  The  utterance 
wafted  me  a  gentle  amusement  at  the  time.  But  from 
that  time  on,  the  boys  of  my  literary  society  began  to 
tremble  —  always  twice  anteriorly,  and  for  the  third 
time  when  they  stood  up  before  that  intellectual  and 
critical  assemblage.  Every  boy  for  weeks  to  come 
used  that   worn-out   preface   for  his   remarks.     The 


PROGRESS  IN  POLITICS  159 

pupils  gave  no  signs  either  of  amusement  or  scorn. 
Apparently  they  received  it  seriously  as  an  eminently 
becoming  preface  of  oratory,  just  as  they  do  the  "Do- 
minus  vobiscum"  of  the  mass.  But  one  day  I  spoke 
of  it  in  one  of  the  classes  —  intentionally  not  in  the 
society.  When  they  saw  our  viewpoint,  they  shrieked 
with  delight,  and  from  that  time  on,  the  budding 
orators  ceased  to  tremble. 

At  last  we  arrived  at  the  point  of  an  open  session, 
and  the  event  was  what  is  described  in  society  papers 
as  one  of  the  social  events  of  the  season.  We  had 
really  a  good  programme,  we  transacted  quite  a  little 
business  in  accordance  with  parliamentary  usage:  we 
elected  the  Governor,  the  Presidente,  and  several 
prominent  citizens  honorary  members,  and  they  ac- 
knowledged the  compliment  with  appropriate  remarks. 

About  a  week  after  our  open  session  I  was  about  to 
retire  one  night,  when  I  heard  the  sound  of  music  and 
saw  lights  approaching.  Transparencies  were  waving 
about  in  the  warm  air.  As  there  was  no  cholera,  and 
therefore  no  occasion  for  a  San  Roque  procession,  I 
hung  out  of  the  window,  local  fashion,  to  find  out 
what  it  was  all  about.  It  was  a  newly  organized  par- 
liamentary society  parading.  In  less  than  a  month 
three  new  societies  had  blossomed  among  the  youths 
and  old  men  of  the  town.  American  teachers  were 
engaged  as  parliamentarians,  although  the  societies  S 
were  conducted  in  Spanish,  not  English.  The  societies 
all  died  a  natural  death  in  a  little  while ;  but  of  course, 
the  school  society  being  compulsory  could  not  die, 
and  so  far  as  I  know  is  still  going  on.    Every  public 


160     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

school  of  the  secondary  class  has  its  school  societies, 
and  they  must  form  the  ideals  of  the  new  generation. 

One  of  the  most  irritating  features  of  life  in  those 
early  days,  and  one  which  offered  a  problem  rather 
difficult  for  the  Government  to  solve,  was  the  matter 
of  currency.  The  money  in  use  was  silver,  with  a  small 
paper  circulation  of  Banco  Espagnol  —  Filipino  notes. 
The  notes  were  printed  on  a  kind  of  pink  blotting 
paper  which  looked  as  if  it  would  be  easy  to  counter- 
feit. The  silver  was  what  we  called  at  first  "Mex" 
and  later  "Dhobie."  There  were  some  pieces  coined 
especially  for  the  Philippines,  but  in  general  "Mex" 
was  made  up  of  coins  of  Spain,  Mexico,  Islas  Filipinas, 
Hong-Kong,  Singapore,  Canton,  and  Amoy  —  only 
the  experts  of  the  Government  could  tell  where  it  all 
came  from.  With  the  public  at  large,  any  coin  that 
looked  as  if  it  contained  the  fair  average  of  silver  was 
accepted.  Every  month  the  paymasters  of  the  United 
States  Army  and  Navy  issued  thousands  of  dollars 
in  American  silver  and  paper,  but  this  disappeared  in 
a  twinkling,  swallowed  up  by  the  local  agents  who 
were  buying  gold  with  which  China  paid  her  indemnity. 
Each  incoming  steamer  brought  loads  of  " Dhobie" 
from  the  Asiatic  coast,  but  our  good  dollars  and  quar- 
ters went  out  of  sight  like  falling  stars. 

The  silver  coins  consisted  of  pesos,  medio-pesos, 
pesetas  (twenty-cent  pieces),  media-pesetas  (ten-cent 
pieces),  and  it  seems  to  me  that  I  have  a  hazy  recol- 
lection of  a  silver  five-cent  piece,  though  I  cannot  be 
certain.    The  copper  coins  were  as  mongrel  as  the  silver. 


PROGRESS    IN    POLITICS  161 

There  were  English,  Dutch,  Spanish,  and  Chinese 
coins  from  the  neighboring  coasts,  but  the  greater 
part  of  the  copper  coins  consisted  of  roughly  pounded 
discs  with  ragged  edges,  which  were  made,  they  said, 
by  the  Igorrotes.  The  coins  had  no  inscriptions,  but 
went  with  the  natives  by  the  name  of  "dacolds" — 
the  native  word  for  "big."  The  Americans  renamed 
the  dacolds  "claquers,"  and  used  either  name  at 
pleasure.  It  required  eighty  dacolds  to  equal  one 
peso,  forty  to  a  half-peso,  sixteen  to  a  peseta,  eight  to 
a  media-peseta.  Theoretically  a  peso  was  a  hundred 
cents,  as  a  peseta  was  twenty  cents,  but  there  was  no 
cent  with  which  to  make  change.  You  accepted  the 
dacold  at  its  value  of  eighty  to  a  peso,  or  you  trans- 
acted no  business.  The  Filipinos  also  had  a  way  of 
figuring  a  medio-peso  as  cuatro  reales,  thus  giving  the 
real  a  value  of  twelve  and  a  half  cents,  though  there 
was  no  coin  called  a  real.  Nevertheless,  the  real  fig- 
ured in  all  business  transactions. 

At  the  time  we  landed  in  Manila  "Mex  "  stood  with 
gold  at  an  even  ratio  of  two  pesos  "Mex"  for  one 
dollar  gold.  I  innocently  allowed  a  bank  to  transfer  a 
gold  balance  on  a  letter  of  credit  to  an  account  in 
local  currency  at  that  ratio.  A  few  weeks  later,  when 
I  wanted  to  change  back  and  carry  my  account  in 
gold,  they  wrote  me  courteously  but  firmly  that  I  would 
have  to  buy  back  that  account  at  the  ratio  of  2.27,  and 
by  the  time  that  the  transfer  was  finally  effected,  gold 
had  jumped  to  2.66.  We  had  been  told  by  a  circular 
from  the  War  Department,  at  the  time  our  appoint- 
ments were  made,  that  we  should  be  paid  in  gold.    I 

n 


162     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

drew  just  one  cheque  in  U.  S.  currency  after  reaching 
the  Islands.  My  second  cheque  was  drawn  in  local 
currency  at  a  ratio  of  2.27,  but,  by  the  time  it  had 
reached  me  at  Capiz,  gold  had  gone  to  2.46.  We  had 
to  endure  the  evils  of  a  fluctuating  currency  for  over 
two  years.  On  all  money  sent  to  the  States  we  lost 
heavily.  So  far  as  our  daily  expenses  were  concerned 
we  in  the  provinces  had  very  little  inconvenience  to 
suffer  on  account  of  "Mex";  but  in  Manila  all  mer- 
chants fixed  their  prices  in  gold  and  took  occasion  to 
put  them  up  mercilessly.  I  remember  trying  to  buy 
some  Japanese  matting  which  could  have  been  bought 
for  twenty-five  cents  a  yard  in  the  States,  but  which 
was  priced  at  seventy-five  cents  in  Manila.  The  mer- 
chant wanted  me  to  pay  him  in  "Mex"  at  a  ratio  of 
2.66,  or  at  the  rate  of  two  pesos  a  yard  for  matting 
which  he  bought  in  Japan  at  probably  less  than  twenty 
sen  a  yard. 

There  was  a  tremendous  protest  against  the  fluctuat- 
ing currency  and  the  extortion  which  grew  out  of  it, 
and  we  were  all  relieved  when  we  learned  that  Congress 
had  adopted  the  so-called  "Conant"  system  of  currency 
for  the  Islands.  Mr.  Conant  was  the  expert  who  in- 
vestigated conditions  for  the  Government  and  devised 
the  system. 

The  Conant  system  followed  the  old  Spanish  values 
for  coins,  the  new  coins  being  pesos,  medio-pesos, 
pesetas,  media-pesetas,  nickels,  and  copper  cents. 
There  was  also  a  copper  half-cent,  but  neither  Congress 
nor  Mr.  Conant  read  the  Filipino  aright.  In  two  years 
we  had  taught  him  to  sniff  at  any  value  less  than  a  cent. 


PROGRESS    IN    POLITICS  163 

The  new  system  is  held  at  a  ratio  of  two  to  one  by  the 
Government's  redeeming  it  in  the  Philippine  treasury 
at  a  ratio  of  two  pesos  Conant  to  one  dollar  U.  S. 
The  importation  of  "Mex"  is  no  longer  permitted,  and 
we  rejoice  in  a  stable  currency  once  more. 

We  provincials  followed  the  newspaper  talk  about 
the  new  system  with  no  small  interest.  When  our 
treasurer  informed  us  that  he  had  received  a  consign- 
ment of  the  new  currency,  and  that  our  next  salary 
cheques  would  be  paid  in  "Conant, "  we  were  delighted. 
My  cheque,  by  some  accident,  got  in  ahead  of  those 
of  the  other  employees,  and  was  the  first  presented  for 
payment. 

The  beautifully  made,  bright  new  silver  coins  had  an 
engaging  appearance  after  the  tarnished  mongrel 
coins  to  which  we  were  accustomed.  When  the  Treas- 
urer had  counted  out  all  my  hard-earned  money  except 
ten  pesos,  he  produced  two  bags  of  pennies,  and 
announced  that  I  should  have  to  take  that  sum  in 
small  coin  in  order  to  get  the  pennies  into  circulation. 
They  were  of  beautiful  workmanship,  yellow  as  gold 
and  heavy  as  lead.  I  called  in  the  aid  of  a  small  boy 
to  help  me  lug  home  my  three  bags  of  coin. 

I  had  been  at  home  only  a  few  minutes  when  in  came 
the  regular  vender  of  eggs  and  chickens,  who  called 
at  my  house  three  times  a  week.  He  squatted  on  the 
floor  and  I  sat  in  front  of  him  in  a  rocking-chair, 
watching  my  little  maid  drop  the  eggs  into  water  to 
test  their  freshness.  After  we  had  chaffered  the  usual 
time  and  had  come  to  an  agreement,  I  went  into  my 
room  and  brought  out  the  bags  of  new  coin.    I  had 


164     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

bought  about  seventy-five  cents  worth  from  him,  and 
I  first  gave  him  three  of  the  new  silver  pesetas,  which 
he  admired  greatly.  There  were  still  fifteen  cents 
due  him ;  and  when  I  reached  my  hand  into  the  penny 
bag  and  hauled  out  a  handful  of  gleaming  copper,  the 
maid  said,  "Jesus!"  under  her  breath,  and  the  man, 
"Dios  mio!"  He  received  his  fifteen  centavos  with 
an  attempt  to  conceal  his  satisfaction.  The  maid 
requested  permission  to  look  inside  the  bag,  and  when 
she  had  done  so  merely  grinned  up  at  me  with  a  look 
that  said,  "My!  You're  rich,  aren't  you?" 

It  was  Saturday  morning,  and  I  went  on  busying 
myself  about  things  at  home.  Pretty  soon  there  came 
a  deprecatory  cough  from  the  stairway  —  the  local 
method  of  announcing  a  visitor.  Outside  of  Manila 
knocking  or  ringing  does  not  seem  to  appeal  to  the 
Filipinos.  In  the  provinces  the  educated  classes  come 
to  the  foot  of  the  stairway  and  call  "Permiso!"  and 
the  lower-class  people  come  to  the  head  of  the  stairway 
and  cough  to  attact  attention.  My  chicken  man  had 
returned.  Was  it  possible  that  he  had  heard  aright 
when  he  had  understood  the  Sefiora  to  say  that  twenty 
of  the  new  gold  pieces  went  to  one  peseta?  The  Sefiora 
explained  that  he  had  made  no  mistake.  Then,  said 
the  old  rascal,  with  bows  and  smirks,  since  the  lady  had 
so  many  of  them  —  bags  full  of  them  —  had  he  not 
seen  with  his  own  eyes?  —  would  she  have  the  kindness 
to  take  back  those  gleaming  new  pesetas,  which  were 
indeed  beautiful,  and  give  him  gold  in  their  stead? 
The  lady  assured  him  that  the  new  money  was  the 
same  metal  used  in  the  old  "dacold"  and  that  in  time 


PROGRESS    IN    POLITICS  165 

it  would  become  as  dark  and  ugly,  but  his  Filipino 
habit  of  relying  on  his  own  eyes  was  in  full  command 
of  him.  The  man  thought  that  I  had  got  hold  of  gold 
without  knowing  it,  and  supposed  that  he  was  getting 
the  best  of  me.  I  changed  one  peseta  into  coppers 
for  him,  and  had  difficulty  in  getting  him  to  leave  the 
house.  Ten  minutes  after  he  had  left,  a  woman  came 
in  to  sell  me  some  more  chickens.  I  told  her  that  I 
had  just  bought,  but  she  put  such  a  price  on  chickens 
as  had  never  before  come  under  my  ken.  Ten  cents 
was  acceptable  for  a  full-grown  laying  hen,  the  ordinary 
value  of  which  was  forty  or  fifty  cents.  I  suspected 
her  of  having  had  some  information  from  the  old  man, 
and,  in  order  to  find  out,  I  gave  her  the  price  of  the 
five  chickens,  which  I  agreed  to  take,  in  the  old  "Mex" 
media-pesetas.  Then  there  was  an  explosion.  She 
reached  for  her  precious  chickens  and  broke  that  bar- 
gain then  and  there.  Her  chickens  would  sell  for  ten 
cents  gold,  but  for  no  media-peseta.  I  asked  her  how 
she  knew  I  had  gold,  and  she  said  that  did  not  matter 
—  I  had  some  "diutang-a-dacolds"  (little  dacolds), 
and  she  was  willing  to  sell  hens  for  ten  "diutang- 
a-dacolds"  gold,  but  not  for  media-pesetas.  So  I 
counted  her  out  fifty  new  coppers  and  we  both  re- 
joiced in  our  bargain.  I  told  her  that  the  media-peseta 
was  worth  ten  dacolds,  but  she  wanted  the  bright  new 
money. 

For  the  next  two  hours  I  was  persecuted  with  truck- 
sellers.  Ordinarily  the  fishermen  were  unwilling  to 
stop  and  sell  in  the  streets  or  in  private  houses,  pre- 
ferring to  do  all  their  business  in  the  market,  but  that 


166     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

morning,  I  could  have  had  the  pick  of  half  the  catch. 
Finally  came  a  woman  who  had  had  a  straight  tale  from 
the  first  woman.  Woman  number  two  had  nothing 
to  sell,  but,  after  a  minute,  she  pulled  out  a  jagged 
old  media-peseta  and  said  that  she  had  heard  that  I 
said  that  a  media-peseta  was  worth  ten  of  the  new 
gold  pieces.  If  I  was  as  good  as  my  word,  why  not 
change  her  media-peseta  for  gold?  I  said  that  I  would 
do  it  if  she  would  give  me  the  new  media-peseta,  but 
that  I  could  not  do  it  for  the  old.  When  she  wanted 
to  know  where  she  could  get  a  new  media-peseta,  and 
I  told  her  the  Treasurer  would  redeem  old  silver  at 
the  government  ratio,  she  went  off  to  get  a  new  media- 
peseta,  but  it  was  plain  that  she  distrusted  me.  The 
people  flocked  to  my  house  all  day  trying  to  get  me 
to  buy  something  and  to  pay  them  in  the  new  coins. 

It  was  remarkable  how  easily  and  quickly  one  cir- 
culating medium  disappeared  and  another  took  its 
place.  At  first  there  was  some  trouble  about  getting 
the  poor  people  to  recognize  the  copper  on  a  basis  of 
a  hundred  to  a  peso.  They  were  willing  enough  to 
receive  change  on  that  basis,  but,  in  giving  it,  tried 
to  treat  the  new  centavo  as  a  dacold,  eighty  to  the 
peso.  I  had  to  have  one  Chinese  baker  arrested  for 
persistently  giving  short  change  to  my  muchacha,  and 
the  Treasurer  had  a  long  line  of  delinquents  before  him 
each,  morning  admonishing  them  that  they  could  not 
play  tricks  with  Uncle  Sam's  legal  tender.  But  on  the 
whole  the  change  went  off  quickly  and  without  much 
friction. 

This  morning  I  asked  my  maid,  an  elderly  woman, 


PROGRESS    IN    POLITICS  167 

if  she  remembered  the  old  money  we  had  four  years 
ago.  She  struck  her  forehead  with  her  hand,  and 
thought  a  long  time.  Finally  her  face  lit  up.  She 
remembered  those  Iggorote  dacolds  and  a  silver  five- 
cent  piece  —  "muy,  muy  chiquitin"  (very,  very  small). 
She  said  that  the  Tagalogs  called  the  dacolds  "Christi- 
nas "  after  the  mother  of  the  Queen-mother.  But  the 
difference  between  a  stable  and  a  fluctuating  medium 
meant  nothing  to  her,  and  probably  many  of  her 
countrymen  have  almost  forgotten  that  there  was 
ever  any  other  than  Conant  in  the  land. 


CHAPTER  THIRTEEN 

TYPHOONS  AND  EARTHQUAKES 

How  Typhoons  assert  themselves  —  Our  First  Typhoon  — 
Six  Weeks'  Mail  brought  by  the  General  Blanco  —  Her 
Narrow  Escape  from  Wreck  —  A  Weird  Journey  on  a 
still  Smaller  Steamer  —  Another  Typhoon  —  Rescue 
op  Captain  B Havoc  wrought  by  the  Typhoon. 

IN  the  month  of  November  two  more  American 
women  teachers  arrived  at  Capiz,  one  of  whom 
joined  me,  and  our  society  was  still  more  increased 
by  two  army  officers'  wives,  and  the  wives  of  the  pro- 
vincial Treasurer  and  the  Supervisor.  This  made 
nine  women  in  all,  and  we  began  to  give  dinners  and 
card  parties,  and  assume  quite  metropolitan  airs. 

Miss  C and  I,  from  our  central  positions  on  the 

plaza,  saw  and  heard  most  of  what  was  going  on,  and 
we  heartily  concurred  in  the  gossip  of  the  day  that 
there  was  always  something  doing  in  Capiz.  About  the 
middle  of  the  month  there  was  a  lively  earthquake  that 
shook  up  our  old  house  most  viciously;  and  just  before 
Thanksgiving  we  met  our  first  typhoon. 

Typhoons  have  various  ways  of  asserting  themselves, 
but  there  is  one  predominating  form  of  which  this  par- 
ticular typhoon  happens  to  be  an  example.  The  be- 
ginning of  all  things  is  usually  a  casual  remark  dropped 
by  a  caller  that  the  first  typhoon  signal  is  up.    Then  the 


TYPHOONS  AND  EARTHQUAKES  169 

weather  thickens,  and  a  fine  drizzling  rain  sets  in.  It 
stops  by  and  by,  and  you  have  no  sort  of  opinion  of 
typhoons.  Then  the  rain  begins  again  with  a  steady 
downpour,  which  makes  you  wonder  if  there  will  be 
any  left  for  next  year.  Again  it  stops,  almost  leads  you 
to  think  it  intends  to  clear.  Then  a  little  vagrant  sigh 
of  wind  wafts  back  the  deluge.  A  few  minutes  later 
nature  sighs  again  with  more  tears.  Each  gust  is 
stronger  than  the  one  before  it,  and  at  the  end  of  eight 
or  ten  hours  the  blasts  are  terrific,  and  the  rain  is  driven 
like  spikes  before  them.  It  may  keep  this  up  twelve 
hours  or  fifty-six.  It  may  increase  to  an  absolute 
hurricane,  levelling  all  before  it  with  great  loss  of  life, 
or  it  may  content  itself  with  an  exhibition  of  what  it 
could  do  if  it  really  desired. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  day  of  our  typhoon  I  went  to 
bed  wondering  how  long  the  ant-eaten  supports  of  our 
house  could  hold  out  against  the  violent  wrenchings 
and  shakings  it  was  getting.  I  had  poor  rest,  for  the 
howling  of  the  wind,  the  noise  of  boards  torn  loose,  and 
the  clatter  of  wrenched  galvanized  iron  roofing  made 
sleep  almost  impossible.  When  I  went  out  into  the 
kitchen  next  morning,  my  heart  sank  into  my  boots. 
The  nipa  roof  had  been  torn  away  piece  by  piece.  The 
whole  place  was  soaked,  the  stove  was  rusted,  and  rivu- 
lets were  running  outside  and  inside  of  the  pipe.  Ro- 
moldo  clucked  his  glee  in  this  devastation,  and  opined 
that  the  outlook  for  breakfast  was  poor.  It  was  cer- 
tainly no  poorer  than  breakfast  when  it  came. 

I  dressed  myself  for  the  weather  and  went  to  school 
in  a  mackintosh  and  rubber  boots.   The  costume  seemed 


170     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

to  afford  no  small  excitement  to  the  Filipinos  who  be- 
held. They  had  hitherto  considered  mackintoshes  and 
rubber  boots  as  the  exclusive  property  of  men.  Had  I 
appeared  in  a  pair  of  pantaloons,  I  should  not  have 
created  more  sensation.  Nobody  came  to  school,  of 
course,  but  I  had  to  go  through  the  form  of  reporting 
there  twice  anyway.  We  lunched  on  gingersnaps  and 
water,  and  had  a  dinner  composed  chiefly  of  tinned 
things. 

After  dinner,  to  our  immense  surprise,  we  had  callers 

in  spite  of  the  storm.    Lieutenant  and  Mrs.  C came 

over  to  ask  us  to  Thanksgiving  dinner,  and  a  couple  of 
men  from  the  officers'  mess  dropped  in.    One  of  these, 

Captain  R ,  was  in  command  of  the  launch  kept 

at  Capiz  by  the  military  Government.  She  was  about 
sixty  feet  long,  and  having  been  built  at  Shanghai,  re- 
joiced in  a  Chinese  name  —  the  Yuen  Hung.  But  as 
something  was  the  matter  with  her  engines,  which 
coughed  and  wheezed  most  disgracefully,  the  flippant 
Americans  had  rechristened  her  the  One  Lung,  much  to 
the  chagrin  of  her  skipper. 

A  barkentine,  loaded  with  molave  timber  and  carry- 
ing native  passengers,  had  been  driven  ashore  at  the 
port  that  day,  and  the  One  Lung  had  gone  to  the  rescue 
and  taken  off  the  passengers.  Fortunately  the  little 
craft  did  not  have  to  brave  the  full  force  of  the  sea,  as 
the  arms  of  the  bay  broke  the  fury.    But  even  in  the 

bay  Captain  R said   the   waves   were   frightful, 

and  he  thanked  his  stars  that  they  had  gotten  back 
alive. 

While  we  were  still  talking  of  the  storm,  there  came  a 


TYPHOONS  AND  EARTHQUAKES         171 

shout  from  the  tribunal  next  door,  and  the  noise  and 
rattle  of  the  four-horse  escort  wagon  starting  down  to 
Libas.  That  could  mean  but  one  thing  —  States  mail, 
the  which,  as  we  had  seen  none  of  it  for  six  weeks,  was 
particularly  welcome.  But  we  wondered  what  boat 
had  come  in  in  such  a  storm,  and,  the  unexpected  al- 
ways happening,  were  not  wholly  unprepared  to  learn 
that  that  disreputable  old  tub  the  General  Blanco  had 
made  harbor  safe  and  sound.  It  took  till  nearly  mid- 
night to  get  the  mail  up  and  distributed,  but  we  stayed 
up  for  it.  There  were  actually  eight  sacks  of  mail  for 
our  little  colony,  and  we  went  over  to  the  tribunal  and 
watched  the  mail  sacks  opened,  and  seized  on  our 
share  with  avidity,  while  we  alternately  blessed  and 
despised  the  skipper  of  the  Blanco  for  getting  caught 
out  in  the  tempest. 

This  was  not  the  last  feat  the  Blanco  was  destined 
to  achieve  during  my  stay  in  Capiz.  She  had  a  habit 
of  dropping  into  port  in  weather  that  it  seemed  no  boat 
could  live  in.  Once  she  came  in  about  two  p.  m.  in  a 
tremendous  sea,  bringing  a  single  American  passenger 
—  a  girl  of  twenty-one,  a  Baptist  missionary.  As  the 
Blanco  had  no  cabins,  the  captain  was  forced  to  lock 
his  native  passengers  in  the  engine  room,  where  no  doubt 
they  contributed  much  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  engi- 
neer and  his  aids.  He  had  the  deck  chair  of  this  girl 
carried  up  on  his  bridge  and  lashed,  and  she  was  lashed 
to  the  chair.  There  they  two  rode  out  the  storm.  The 
captain  said  that  from  eleven  o'clock  till  two,  when  he 
made  the  shelter  of  Batan  Bay,  he  expected  his  boat  to 
be  swamped  any  instant,  and  he  expressed  his  unquali- 


172     IMPRESSIONS   OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

fied  admiration  for  the  way  in  which  this  girl  faced  her 
possible  doom.  He  concluded  with  a  favorite  Filipino 
ejaculation,  "Abao  las  Americanas,"  which  in  this 
case  may  be  freely  translated  as  "What  women  the 
Americans  are!" 

The  Blanco  is  still  skipping  defiantly  over  the  high 
seas  between  Iloilo  and  Capiz,  though  after  all  her 
hairbreadth  escapes  she  came  near  ending  herself  in  a 
typical  way.  She  started  out  one  night  from  Capiz  for 
Iloilo,  a  heavenly  calm  night,  bright  moonlight,  and  a 
sea  smooth  as  a  floor.  Two  or  three  miles  from  the 
port,  a  large  island  called  Olatayan  lies  off  the  coast  — 
a  single  mountain  rising  out  of  the  sea.  Everybody 
on  the  Blanco,  including  the  watch  and  the  steersman, 
thought  it  a  good  night  for  sleep,  and  left  the  General 
to  steer  her  own  course.  The  General  made  straight  for 
Olatayan,  and  ran  her  nose  up  on  the  beach.  She  stayed 
there  two  weeks,  and  was  beaten  up  by  bad  weather, 
and  assistance  had  to  be  sent  to  get  her  off.  Then  she 
had  to  be  pretty  well  rebuilt,  and  repainted.  At  the 
time  of  all  these  happenings  I  was  in  Iloilo,  whither  I 
had  gone  for  treatment  of  an  abscess  of  the  middle  ear, 
and  as  I  depended  on  the  Blanco  for  getting  back,  felt 
personally  inj  ured  by  her  antics.  I  went  several  times  to 
the  office  of  her  agents,  one  of  the  big  English  trading 
firms,  to  inquire  how  the  wreck  was  getting  along,  and 
what  the  prospect  was  for  a  return  to  Capiz  before 
Christmas.  The  man  at  the  desk  did  not  look  charac- 
teristically English,  and  on  my  first  appearance  I 
addressed  him  tentatively  in  Spanish.  He  answered 
in  that  language,  and  we  continued  to  use  it.    On  one  of 


TYPHOONS  AND  EARTHQUAKES  173 

the  later  visits  this  gentleman  was  not  visible,  but  in 
his  place  a  red-headed,  freckled  youth,  with  the  map  of 
Scotland  outlined  on  his  rugged  countenance,  presided 
over  the  collection  of  inkstands  and  ledgers.  Natu- 
rally, I  accosted  him  in  English,  whereupon  the  shape 
of  my  former  interlocutor  rose  up  from  behind  a  screen 
and  remarked,  "By  Jove,  I  thought  you  were  Spanish, 
don't  you  know?  and  have  been  talking  to  you  all  this 
time  in  Spanish.    What  a  sell !" 

Failing  the  Blanco,  I  took  passage  for  Capiz  on  the 
Fritz,  a  craft  one  or  two  degrees  smaller  and  rustier  than 
the  old  General.  Of  all  the  weird  experiences  I  ever 
had,  that  twenty-four  hours  was  the  weirdest.  They 
cleared  out  a  sort  of  pantry  or  lazaretto  just  back  of 
the  deck  engine-house  for  me  to  use  as  a  stateroom,  and 
I  slept  on  the  pantry  shelf.  Some  kind  of  steam  pipes 
must  have  passed  under  it,  for  it  grew  so  hot  that  several 
times  I  had  to  vacate  and  get  down  on  the  floor. 
Then  we  met  a  little  wind  as  we  rounded  the  north 
coast,  and  I  was  sick.  A  family  of  Filipino  aristocrats 
came  on  board  at  Estancia,  and  the  ladies  elected  to 
share  my  retreat.  They  had  several  servants  and  one 
or  two  babies  and  other  necessaries  of  life,  and  they  left 
me  only  a  corner  of  the  pantry  shelf,  against  which  I 
propped  my  weary  and  seasick  frame.  We  made 
Capiz  just  at  dusk,  and  never  was  a  wanderer  more 
eager  to  see  home.  There  on  the  bank  were  two  of  my 
friends,  who  said  they  were  invited  out  to  dinner  and 
were  to  bring  me  if  I  arrived  in  time.  So  we  went  to  that 
cheery  American  home  with  its  spotless  linen,  its  silver 
and  china.    For  six  weeks  I  had  been  living  on  Spanish 


174     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

"chow,"  and  the  contrast  made  me  serenely  happy.  It 
was  almost  worth  enduring  —  the  six  weeks  of  chow  and 
the  Fritz,  I  mean  —  to  enjoy  the  change. 

But  to  return  to  typhoons.  We  had  several  more 
that  year,  and  I  began  to  feel  that  typhoons  were  terri- 
bly exaggerated  in  books.  But  in  1903  we  had  an  object 
lesson  that  I  do  not  care  to  repeat.  We  went  through 
all  the  usual  preliminaries  of  typhoon  signals,  drizzle 
and  gust.  It  was,  I  believe,  the  tenth  of  June.  I  stayed 
up  late  that  night,  working,  and  noticed  that  the  gusts 
were  increasing.  Just  at  midnight  I  laid  down  my  pen 
and  started  to  go  to  bed,  when  there  came  a  blast  that 
shook  the  house  like  an  earthquake  and  made  me  de- 
cide to  wait  a  while.  For  the  next  three  hours  the  storm 
raged  in  a  very  orgy  of  gladness.  It  slapped  over  nipa 
shacks  with  a  single  roar.  It  ripped  up  iron  roofing 
and  sent  it  hurtling  about  the  air.  The  nipa  of  my 
roof  was  torn  off  bit  by  bit,  and  the  rain  came  in  in  tor- 
rents. I  used  my  mackintosh  to  cover  up  the  books, 
and  put  a  heavy  woollen  blanket  over  the  piano.  Then 
I  held  an  umbrella  over  the  lamp  to  keep  the  rain  from 
breaking  the  chimney,  and  sat  huddling  my  pet  monkey, 
which  was  crazed  with  fear.  The  houses  on  either 
side  were  taller  than  mine,  and  for  this  little  hollow  it 
seemed  as  if  all  the  iron  roofing  of  the  town  had  steered 
a  direct  course.  The  pieces  came  down,  borne  by  the 
shrieking  wind,  and  landed  with  rattle  and  bang.  My 
house  swayed  at  every  gust.  It  seemed  that  the  cross- 
beams in  the  roof  moved  at  least  a  foot  each  way.  The 
little  lanterns  that  burn  in  front  of  the  houses  were 
blown  out  by  the  wind,  and  when  I  peered  out  there 


CALLE   REAL,  MANILA 


TYPHOONS  AND  EARTHQUAKES  175 

was  nothing  but  the  inky  darkness,  the  howling  of  the 
wind,  the  thrashing  of  the  cocoanut  trees,  and  the  thud 
of  falling  nuts.  From  my  side  window  I  could  see  the 
native  family  next  door  to  me  all  on  their  knees  in  front 
of  an  image  of  the  Virgin,  and  once,  in  a  lull,  caught  the 
sound  of  their  prayers. 

The  storm  reached  its  greatest  violence  by  half  past 
one  and  subsided  by  about  three,  at  which  time  I 
went  to  bed  and  slept  till  morning.  In  spite  of  my 
fear  I  could  not  help  laughing  at  my  two  Filipino  girl 
servants.  They  slept  undisturbed  through  the  earlier 
gusts,  but  when  the  roof  went  and  the  water  came  in, 
they  awoke  —  disgusted.  The  oldest  one  said,  "  Mucho 
aguacero"  (a  heavy  shower)  and  cast  about  for  a  dry 
spot.  She  did  n't  find  any  at  first,  but  she  finally  con- 
cluded that  the  corner  where  my  bed  stood  was  high- 
est ;  lifting  the  valence,  they  disappeared. 

Next  morning  Capiz  presented  a  pitiful  sight.  Many 
of  the  great  almond  trees  on  the  plaza  were  uprooted 
and  the  others  dismembered.  The  little  nipa  houses 
were  flat  on  the  ground  or  drunkenly  sprawling  at  every 
slant  and  angle.  Even  the  best  houses  had  suffered. 
The  constabulary  cuartel  was  absolutely  wrecked.  The 
Supervisor's  kitchen  was  gone,  and  his  wife  mourned 
for  her  dishes,  which  were  scattered  up  and  down  the 
length  of  the  street.  The  home  of  the  scout  officer  was 
ruined.  He  and  his  wife  had  taken  shelter  under  a 
stone  wall,  and  been  drenched  for  three  or  four  hours. 
The  young  mangoes  had  been  strewn  on  the  ground, 
and  there  was  no  hope  of  that  crop.  Many  of  the  cocoa- 
nut  trees  were  broken  off,  and  where  this  was  not  the 


176     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

case,  the  nuts  had  been  whipped  off.    The  banana  trees 
were  entirely  destroyed.     Altogether  it  was  a  sorry 
sight,  and  we  all  got  out  and  walked  about  and  viewed 
the  ruins,  just  as  we  do  for  a  cyclone  at  home. 
The  storm  had  an  aftermath  in  the  rescue  of  an 

Englishman,  Captain  B ,  a  pearl  fisher.     He  was 

anchored  under  the  lee  of  a  small  island  in  the  sea 
between  Panay  and  Masbate.  He  was  in  a  small 
lorcha,  or  sailing  vessel,  with  no  barometer,  his  glass 
having  been  left  on  a  lorcha  of  larger  tonnage,  which 
was  at  another  point.  The  heavy  wind  caught  them 
without  warning  almost,  and  its  impact  soon  pressed 
the  lorcha  over.  Captain  B found  himself  strug- 
gling in  the  water  —  able  to  swim,  but  drowning,  as 
he  expressed  it,  with  the  spindrift  which  was  hurtling 
into  his  face.  He  kept  one  arm  going,  and  partially 
protected  his  face  with  the  other.  Then  in  the  inky 
dark  he  touched  a  human  body.  It  was  the  leg  of 
one  of  his  crew,  four  of  whom  were  clinging  to  one  of 
the  lorcha' s  boats.     It  kept  turning  over  and  over, 

and  they  had  to  go  with  it  each  time.    Captain  B 

hung  to  the  prow,  so  his  circuit  was  not  so  wide  as  that 
of  the  others,  but  his  body  —  arms,  legs,  and  chest  — 
was  literally  ploughed  by  the  rough  usage.  Once  he 
let  go  and  lost  the  prow  as  it  came  up,  and  the  fright  of 
this  was  enough  to  strengthen  his  hold.  They  were  in 
the  water  clinging  to  this  all  the  rest  of  the  night,  the 
next  day,  and  the  next  night.  One  man  died  of  ex- 
haustion, and  one  went  mad  and  let  go.  On  the  second 
morning  they  succeeded  in  bailing  it  out  by  means  of 
an  undershirt,  which  Captain  B had  been  wear- 


TYPHOONS  AND  EARTHQUAKES  177 

ing,  and  which,  though  torn  to  ribbons  across  the 
front,  was  whole  in  the  back.  They  remained  in  the 
boat  all  day,  beaten  on  by  the  *  tropical  sun,  having 
been  thirty  hours  in  the  water  without  food  or  drink. 

Captain  B said  they  were  all  a  little  mad.    They 

saw  the  Sam  Shut  —  the  boat  of  the  commanding 
officer  of  the  Visayas  —  in  the  distance,  but  were  too 
low  to  be  sighted  by  her.  They  wore  their  finger  ends 
down,  tearing  a  plank  off  the  side  to  use  for  an  oar. 
Meanwhile  the  current  carried  them  down  closer  to 
the  Panay  coast,  and  on  the  third  day  they  were  close 
enough  to  fall  in  with  one  of  the  big  fishing  paraos. 
This  carried  them  into  Panay,  a  town  five  or  six  miles 

east  of  Capiz.    Captain  B had  just  strength  to 

write  a  line  or  two  and  sign  his  name.  This  was 
brought  down  to  Capiz,  and  the  constabulary  officer 
on  duty  there  went  out  immediately  with  a  launch 
and  brought  him  in.  He  was  in  the  military  hospital  a 
long  time.  His  attending  physician  said  that  between 
salt  water  and  sun  he  had  been  literally  flayed,  and  the 
flesh  torn  into  ribbons  and  gouged  by  the  impact  of 
the  boat. 

The  storm  did  frightful  havoc  all  through  the  Visayas, 
and  many  lives  were  lost  and  vessels  wrecked.  The 
Blanco  as  usual  made  harbor  all  right,  but  another  little 
Capiz  boat,  the  Josefina,  went  ashore,  and  her  captain 
and  several  others  were  lost.  The  adventurous  One 
Lung  was  at  Iloilo,  and  it  was  reported  that  she 
started  out  of  the  river  without  consulting  her  pilot, 
creating  thereby  general  consternation  among  her 
sister  craft. 

12 


178     IMPRESSIONS   OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

We  accustomed  ourselves  at  last  to  typhoons  and 
earthquakes,  and,  on  the  whole,  decided  that  they  were 
less  fearful  than  tornadoes  at  home.  Meanwhile  we 
rather  luxuriated  in  the  sensations  of  romance  in- 
spired by  living  in  a  town  surrounded  by  a  hostile 
population  and  protected  by  soldiery.  It  was  very, 
very  new,  and  we  made  the  best  of  it. 


CHAPTER  FOURTEEN 

WAR  ALARMS  AND  THE  SUFFERING  POOR 

A  Surprise  Party  of  Bolo-men  —  Forty  Insurrectos  arrive  in 
our  Neighborhood  —  Anecdotes  of  Encounters  with 
Insurgents  —  Anxiety  because  of  Treachery  of  the 
Natives  —  A  False  Alarm  —  Five  Hundred  Starving 
Persons  —  Great  Lack  of  Institutions  for  the  Poor  — 
A  Smallpox  Patient  in  the  School  Building  —  The 
Newspaper  a  Creator  of  Hysteria. 

AS  I  said  before,  Capiz  had  never  been  a  warlike 
A-\  province,  and  there  had  been  comparatively 
•*■  A-  little  resistance  to  the  American  occupation. 
Antiqua  province  to  the  west  of  us  had  fought  stub- 
bornly and  was  still  infested  by  ladrones,  or  guerilla 
troops.  One  engagement  took  place  at  Ibajay,  a  town 
on  the  north  coast  close  to  the  western  border  of  Capiz, 
quite  worthy  of  description. 

There  was  a  small  American  garrison  at  Ibajay  — 
about  seventy-five  or  a  hundred  —  and  the  Filipinos 
planned  to  surprise  and  massacre  them  just  at  day- 
break when  the  reveille  was  sounded.  But  the  bugler 
was  an  astute  youth,  with  an  observing  mind,  and  as 
he  made  his  morning  promenade,  it  seemed  to  him  that 
there  were  far  too  many  ladies  squatting  about  on  the 
plaza.  So  he  got  as  close  to  quarters  as  he  could,  and 
instead  of  blowing  reveille,  blew  the  call  to  arms  with  all 


180     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

his  soul,  and  then  ran  for  his  life.  The  American  troops 
swarmed  out  in  their  underdrawers  and  cartridge  belts, 
and  that  surprise  party  turned  right  about  face. 
The  squatting  women  on  the  plaza,  who  were  bolo- 
men  in  disguise,  left  for  the  hills  with  the  yelling 
undergarmented  in  pursuit.  A  Filipino  girl  who  saw 
it  all  described  the  affair  to  me,  and  said,  "Abao,"  as 
she  recalled  the  shouts  of  enjoyment  with  which  the 
Americans  returned  after  the  fray.  They  seemed  to 
regard  the  episode  as  planned  to  relieve  the  monotony 
of  life  in  quarters  and  to  give  them  a  hearty  breakfast 
appetite. 

I  had  been  little  more  than  a  month  in  Capiz  when 
the  rumor  went  abroad  that  a  parao  with  forty  in- 
surrectos  from  Samar  had  landed  at  Panay,  just  east 
of  us,  and  the  occupants  had  scattered  themselves  out 
between  Panay  and  Pontevedra.  Pontevedra  was  sup- 
posed to  be  an  insurrecto  town,  thirsting  for  American 
gore. 

As  we  at  Capiz  were  protected  by  a  company  of  the 
Sixth  Infantry  and  one  of  the  Tenth  Cavalry,  and  the 
Islands  were  theoretically  at  peace,  we  were  not  very 
much  alarmed  by  this.  But  it  gave  us  something  to 
talk  about,  and  we  enjoyed  it  just  as  we  do  telling 
ghost  stories  on  winter  nights,  when  the  fire  is  low, 
and  there  is  plenty  of  company  in  case  the  ghosts 
materialize.  Shortly  after,  however,  came  the  shock- 
ing details  of  the  affair  at  Balangiga,  and  we  —  I  speak 
of  the  feminine  portion  of  our  colony  —  did  not  feel 
so  secure  by  any  means.  The  Supervisor's  wife  in- 
sisted upon  having  a  guard  at  her  house,  and  when  any 


WAR  ALARMS  AND  SUFFERING  POOR     181 

two  American  women  got  together  they  discussed  what 
they  would  do  in  case  of  a  sudden  alarm. 

I  am  certain  that  there  is  no  braver  soldiery  in  all 
the  world  than  ours.  But  I  am  equally  certain  that 
when  war  is  a  man's  profession,  on  which  all  his  chances 
of  honor,  pay,  and  promotion  hinge  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, the  wish  in  his  mind  is  father  to  the  thought, 
and  unconsciously  he  scents  danger  because  he  wants 
danger.  Of  an  officer  it  may  be  said,  as  of  Thisbe's  lion, 
that  his  trade  is  blood,  and  "a  lion  among  ladies  is  a 
most  dreadful  thing."  But  nothing  pleased  me  more 
than  to  hear  the  officers  tell  tales  of  the  old  campaign 
and  speculate  on  the  possibilities  of  a  new  one. 

Our  Supervisor  had  been  a  captain  of  volunteers  in  a 
Minnesota  regiment.  He  was  a  thoroughly  interesting 
talker,  and  an  inimitable  story-teller,  a  man  who  did  not 
lose  his  sense  of  humor  when  the  joke  turned  on  himself. 
I  heard  him  tell  one  or  two  stories  well  worth  repeating. 

Our  valorous  Supervisor  was  stationed  in  Antique 
province,  while  in  Capiz  was  a  detachment  of  the 
regular  army.  And  in  full  sight  of  both  on  the  top  of  a 
precipice,  an  insurrecto  flag  flaunted  its  impertinent 
message. 

The  Supervisor  said  he  waited  a  decent  length  of 
time  to  give  the  regulars  a  chance  to  pull  down  the 
flag,  as  it  lay  in  their  province,  but  when  they  failed 
to  act,  he  went  out,  full  of  hope  and  good  United  States 
commissary  valor,  to  destroy  the  insurrecto  stronghold 
and  to  give  an  object  lesson  in  guerilla  warfare  to 
the  regulars.  His  men  hacked  and  hewed  their  way 
through  the  jungle  and  cogon  grass,  with  never  a  shot 


182     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

from  the  insurrectos.  Then  at  the  last  they  came  to  a 
clear  slope,  and  when  they  were  about  half-way  up  this, 
the  insurrectos  opened  fire,  not  only  with  rifles  but  with 
great  boulders.  The  Supervisor  said  it  took  them  over 
two  hours  to  get  up,  and  they  went  down  in  less  than 
twenty  minutes.  One  little  Dutch  private  was  in  so 
much  of  a  hurry  that  he  punched  him  (the  officer)  in 
the  back  with  a  gun  butt  and  said,  "Hurry  up!  get 
out  of  the  way."  Most  of  the  shots  flew  high,  how- 
ever. The  flag  came  down  later,  but  it  required  four 
hundred  men  and  a  battery  of  artillery  to  bring  it 
down. 

On  another  occasion  the  Supervisor,  his  wife,  a  con- 
stabulary lieutenant,  and  I  were  out  on  the  playa 
(beach)  when  we  came  to  a  little  hollow  almost  hidden 
by  grass,  so  that  I  stumbled  in  crossing  it.  This  started 
the  two  men  into  retrospect  of  a  day's  fight  over  on  the 
beach  of  the  west  coast.  The  insurrectos  at  last  took  to 
flight,  and  the  Supervisor  started  after  one  whom  he 
had  noticed,  on  account  of  the  beautiful  kris,  or  fluted 
bolo,  which  he  carried.  As  they  ran,  the  Supervisor 
stumbled  over  such  a  grass-hidden  hollow,  and  without 
his  perceiving  it,  his  revolver  flew  out  of  its  holster. 
He  kept  on  gaining  slightly  on  his  quarry,  who  glanced 
apprehensively  over  his  shoulder  now  and  then,  ex- 
pecting to  see  the  big  Colt  come  out.  At  last,  when  he 
thought  the  range  was  good,  the  officer  reached  for  his 
revolver.  He  described  the  sort  of  desperate  grin 
with  which  the  Filipino  glanced  back  expecting  the  end, 
and  the  rapid  change  to  satisfaction  and  triumphant 
ferocity  as  pursuer  and  pursued  realized  what  had 


WAR  ALARMS  AND  SUFFERING  POOR     183 

happened.  Then  the  race  changed.  It  was  the  Super- 
visor who  panted  wearily  back  toward  his  scattered 
fellows,  and  it  was  the  Filipino  with  a  kris  to  whose 
muscles  hope  of  victory  lent  fresh  energy.  Fortunately, 
this  young  constabulary  lieutenant,  who  had  been  a 
non-commissioned  officer  of  volunteers,  saw  what  was 
going  on,  and  picked  off  the  Filipino  with  a  long  range 
shot  from  his  rifle.  The  kris  was  secured,  and  its  beau- 
tiful blade  and  tortoise-shell  scabbard,  inlaid  with 
silver,  went  as  a  present  to  Mrs.  Wright  when  she  visited 
the  province. 

Somewhere  in  his  "Rulers  of  the  South"  Marion 
Crawford  speaks  of  the  wonderful  rapidity  with  which 
news  flies  among  the  native  population  in  warfare, 
and  he  cites  as  an  illustration  that  "when  Sir  Louis 
Cavagnari  was  murdered  in  Cabul,  in  1879,  the  news 
was  told  in  the  bazaar  at  Allahabad  before  the  English 
authorities  received  it  by  telegraph,  which  then  cov- 
ered more  than  half  the  whole  distance  between  the 
two  places."  This  same  condition  beset  the  American 
officers  in  the  Philippines.  Secretly  as  they  might  act, 
they  found  the  news  of  their  movements  always  in 
advance  of  them,  and  the  crafty  native  hard  to  surprise. 

Among  the  leaders  in  Panay  a  certain  Quentin 
Salas  who  operated  both  in  Antique  and  Iloilo  prov- 
inces was  noted  for  his  daring  and  cruelty.  The  Amer- 
ican troops  spent  much  time  in  pursuit  of  him,  and 
among  others  the  doughty  Captain  of  volunteers.  The 
Captain  said  that  Salas  made  his  headquarters  in  a 
certain  pueblo,  and  often  word  was  brought  that  the 
insurrecto  would  be  found  there  on  a  certain  day. 


184     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

The  Captain  tried  all  devices,  forced  marches,  and 
feints  on  other  pueblos,  but  to  no  purpose.  He  always 
arrived  to  find  his  quarry  gone,  but  breakfast  waiting 
for  him  (the  American)  at  the  convente,  or  priest's 
house.  The  table  was  laid  for  just  the  right  number 
of  persons,  and  the  priest  was  always  affable  and 
amused.  The  Captain  grew  desperate.  He  gave  out 
false  marching  orders,  and  tried  all  the  tricks  he 
knew  of.  Finally,  he  let  it  be  known  that  he  intended 
to  march  on  Salas's  pueblo  the  next  morning,  and  he 
did  so,  and  actually  arrived  unexpectedly,  or  at  least 
so  nearly  so  that  breakfast  was  not  ready.  The  Fili- 
pinos had  assumed  that  his  announcement  cloaked 
some  other  invention,  and  had  expected  him  to  branch 
off  at  the  eleventh  hour. 

The  Captain  searched  the  town  from  garret  to  cellar, 
but  no  Quentin  Salas.  He  unearthed,  however,  the 
usual  score  of  paupers  and  invalids.  One  of  these  was 
a  man  humped  up  with  rheumatism,  as  only  a  Fili- 
pino decrepit  can  be.  The  Americans  finally  departed, 
leaving  this  ruin  staring  after  them  from  the  window 
of  a  nipa  shack.  Months  afterward,  when  peace  had 
been  declared,  the  officer  heard  his  name  called  in  the 
government  building  at  Iloilo,  and  saw  a  keen-eyed 
Filipino  holding  out  his  hand.  The  Filipino  intro- 
duced himself  as  Quentin  Salas,  and  owned  that  he 
possessed  a  slight  advantage  in  having  viewed  the 
officer  in  propria  persona,  while  he,  Salas,  was  in  dis- 
guise. He  confessed  that  the  American  had  caught 
him  napping  on  that  day,  and  that  he  had  been  forced 
to  assume  hurriedly  the  garb  and  mien  of  an  aged 


o 

o 
*   3 

5  s 

o 

JS     CO 

3   2 


1  % 


^       g 

o 

o 

►3 


WAR  ALARMS  AND  SUFFERING  POOR    185 

pauper.  The  American  owned  himself  outwitted,  and 
shakes  his  head  to  this  day  to  think  how  near  he  came 
to  victory. 

We  lived  in  a  maze  of  war  talk  all  that  autumn.  I 
doubt  not  that,  to  the  officer  commanding,  much  that 
was  mere  excitement  to  us  was  deadly  reality  and 
anxiety,  for  although  peace  was  declared,  the  treach- 
ery of  the  natives  had  been  demonstrated  at  Balangiga, 
and  there  was  no  certainty  that  the  affair  would  not 
be  repeated  elsewhere.  The  American  people  have 
little  conception  of  the  burdens  laid  upon  the  army. 
These  were  to  hold  a  people  in  subjection  while  deny-  . 
ing  that  they  were  in  subjection;  to  assume  the  belief 
of  peace  and  yet  momentarily  to  expect  war;  to 
rule  without  the  semblance  of  rule;  to  accomplish 
when  all  the  recognized  tools  of  accomplishment  were 
removed;  to  be  feared  and  yet  to  be  ready  to  bear 
cheerfully  all  blame  if  that  fear  expressed  itself  in 
complaint.  I  cannot  but  feel  that  the  army  had  much 
to  bear  in  those  early  days,  and  bore  it  well. 

One  little  incident  will  serve  to  illustrate  how  lightly 
and  yet  how  seriously  the  circumstances  of  life  were 
viewed  at  that  time.  The  open  sea  beach,  or  playa, 
two  miles  north  of  the  town,  was  the  favorite  afternoon 

drive,  and  one  day  Miss  C ,  who  lived  with  me, 

was  invited  by  the  wife  of  Dr.  D to  share  her 

victoria.  They  left  for  the  playa  about  half-past  four, 
the  Doctor  accompanying  them  on  his  bicycle.  He 
never  permitted  his  wife  to  leave  the  borders  of  the 
town  unaccompanied. 

Mrs.  D was  in  poor  health  and  found  long  drives 


186     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

unendurable,  so  when  seven  o'clock  came  and  Miss 
C had  not  returned,  I  concluded  that  she  was  go- 
ing to  dine  at  Dr.  D 's.     However,  before  sitting 

down  without  her,  I  sent  Romoldo  up  to  the  Doctor's 
to  inquire  if  she  was  there.     He  came  back  saying  that 

the  D s  had  not  returned,  and  that  their  servants 

were  quite  upset,  as  such  a  thing  had  never  happened 
before.     I  waited  till  eight  and  sent  Romoldo  again 

for  news.    Again  he  brought  back  word  that  the  D s 

had  not  appeared.  I  thereupon  went  over  to  Lieu- 
tenant C 's  house,  who  instantly  picked  up  his  hat 

and  left  to  talk  the  matter  over  with  the  officer  of  the 

day.    Thence  it  was  reported  to  Captain  M ,  who 

ordered  out  searching  parties  for  each  of  the  three 
main  roads  leading  out  of  Capiz.  Just  as  the  men  were 
ready  to  start,  the  victoria  and  bicycle  appeared.  Our 
friends  had  stopped  at  a  Filipino  house  where  a  saint's 
day  celebration  was  in  full  swing,  and  had  found  it 
impossible  to  leave.  The  Filipino  hosts  had  brought 
up  ice  all  the  way  from  Uoilo  to  make  ice-cream,  but 
as  they  were  not  adepts,  it  did  n't  freeze  properly,  and 
they  would  hear  of  no  guest  leaving  until  the  ice- 
cream had  been  served.    Miss  C said  they  were 

worried  and  tried  to  get  away,  but  I  declined  to  be- 
lieve her.  Ice-cream,  I  insisted,  might  excuse  four 
times  the  delay,  and  I  flatly  refused  to  be  convinced 
that  they  had  intended  to  turn  their  backs  on  it  after 
a  compulsory  fast  of  seven  months. 

The  troops  bundled  themselves  back  to  quarters, 
and  it  all  ended  in  a  laugh.  Only  the  commanding 
officer  leaned  out  of  his  window  to  chuckle  at  me. 


WAR  ALARMS  AND  SUFFERING  POOR    187 

"Well,  did  you  get  your  chicken?"  and  I  went  home 

and  vowed  that  Miss  C should  perish  four  times 

over  before  I  would  stir  up  an  excitement  about  her 
again. 

If  we  lived  in  a  slightly  hysterical  state  as  concerns 
the  possibilities  of  a  war  and  bloodshed,  we  soon 
learned  to  be  phlegmatic  enough  about  disease  and 
pestilence.  Nearly  five  hundred  starving  people  had 
gathered  in  Capiz,  and  their  emaciated  bodies  and 
cavernous  eyes  mocked  all  talk  of  the  brotherhood 
of  man.  This  condition  did  not  represent  the  normal 
one  of  the  whole  province,  but  rather  these  people 
represented  the  aggregate  of  starvation.  Of  course, 
following  the  war,  there  was  a  short  crop  and  no  little 
distress.  But  a  certain  Capiz  politician  with  his' eyes 
on  the  future  caused  word  to  be  sent  out  through  the 
province  that  if  the  needy  would  come  into  Capiz  he 
would  see  that  they  were  fed.  Of  course  he  did  no  such 
thing.  They  came  and  starved  to  death;  but  mean^ 
while  the  report  of  his  generosity  was  spread  abroad, 
and  nobody  took  any  pains  to  tell  the  story  of  how  the 
miserable  wretches  had  been  cheated.  So  the  poli- 
tician profited  and  the  poor  died. 

No  one  whose  life  has  been  passed  in  American  rural 
prosperity  can  wholly  realize  one's  helplessness  in  the 
face  of  these  conditions.  Capiz  was  a  town  of  twenty- 
five  thousand  people  rejoicing  in  many  commodious 
and  luxurious  homes  and  a  fine  old  church.  It  would 
seem  a  small  affair  to  tide  over  the  distress  of  so  small 
a  number  as  five  hundred  starving.  But  the  greatest 
obstacle  was  the  fact  that  they  were  not  temporarily 


188     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

starving.  They  represented  a  portion  of  the  inhabit- 
ants who  either  from  voluntary  or  involuntary  help- 
lessness would  always  need  assistance,  and  the  people 
of  the  town  did  not  see  a  clear  way  of  assuming  the 
burden. 

I  confess  in  my  unsophistication  I  went  out  among 
them  consuming  with  fine  altruistic  zeal.  A  woman 
with  a  starving  child  in  her  arms  begged  of  me  in  the 
plaza.  Instantly  my  purse  was  out,  and  instantly  I 
was  mobbed  by  the  howling,  filthy  crowd.  My  purse 
was  almost  torn  out  of  my  hand,  my  hat  was  knocked 
over  my  eyes,  and  a  hundred  eager  claws  tugged  and 
pulled  at  my  garments.  I  had  fairly  to  fight  my  way 
out  of  the  mob,  and  learned  to  bestow  no  more  alms 
in  public.  Then  I  took  to  throwing  pennies  out  of  the 
window,  and  found  as  a  consequence  that  there  was 
no  rest  day  or  night  from  the  wailing  and  howling  in 
the  street.  Little  by  little  the  fountain  of  my  phi- 
lanthropy dried  up,  and  I  contented  myself  with  giving 
what  I  could  to  the  Church  to  be  bestowed  in  regular 
channels. 

At  that  time  there  was  not  a  single  hospital  (Amer- 
ican military  hospital  excepted)  in  the  Philippine 
Islands  outside  of  the  city  of  Manila,  and  with  the  ex- 
ception of  one  or  two  missionary  establishments,  no 
poorhouses,  no  orphan  asylums,  —  in  short,  no  prop- 
erly organized  eleemosynary  institutions  conducted  by 
the  State.  The  result  was  one  at  which  we  Americans 
were  first  appalled,  then  indignant,  then,  through 
sheer  helplessness,  indifferent.  We  simply  became 
hardened  to  sights  and  sounds  which  in  our  own  land 


WAR  ALARMS  AND  SUFFERING  POOR     189 

would  stir  up  a  blaze  of  excitement  and  bring  forth 
wagon-loads  of  provisions. 

Between  the  two  stone  schoolhouses  at  Capiz  was 
a  connecting  house  of  nipa  where  in  ante-insurrection 
days  the  native  teachers  had  their  quarters.  At  first 
the  horde  of  beggars  were  allowed  to  make  their  head- 
quarters in  this;  but  on  the  arrival  of  the  Division 
Superintendent,  he  protested  against  sowing  the  seeds 
of  disease  among  school  children  in  that  way.  So  the 
paupers  were  driven  forth  and  found  shelter  wherever 
they  could,  in  barns  and  unused  houses. 

In  the  following  June  a  part  of  the  older  pupils 
were  separated  from  the  others  and  placed  in  a  room 
in  the  tribunal,  as  the  nucleus  of  an  intermediate 
school.  I  was  in  charge  of  them,  and  noticed  one 
day  a  heap  of  rags  lying  on  a  pile  of  boards  under- 
neath the  opposite  wing  of  the  building.  Presently 
the  rag  heap  began  to  twist  and  turn  and  throw  arms 
about  and  then  to  scream.  I  went  over  to  investi- 
gate, and  found  a  girl  of  fourteen  or  fifteen  nearly 
dead.  Her  skeleton  body  was  covered  with  sores,  her 
eyes  seemed  sightless,  and  the  flies  had  settled  in 
clouds  around  them  and  her  nostrils.  She  would  lie 
on  the  hard  boards  a  few  minutes  until  the  torment 
grew  unendurable,  and  then  break  into  screams  and 
lamentations.  The  rooms  of  all  the  municipal  officers 
were  about  her,  she  was  in  full  sight  of  the  police,  and 
yet  there  she  lay  and  suffered  with  no  human  being 
to  help  her.  Naturally  I  went  to  the  Mayor,  or  Presi- 
dente.  He  wanted  to  know,  with  some  irritation, 
what  was  to  be  expected  when  the  School  Superin- 


190     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

tendent  refused  to  let  the  school  building  be  used 
by  the  poor.  After  some  talk  the  girl  was  removed 
to  a  house  and  assistance  given  her.  She  was  past 
the  need  of  food,  and  died  in  less  than  twenty-four 
hours. 

The  aforementioned  nipa  house  between  the  two 
schoolhouses  was  utilized  for  janitors'  quarters,  and 
the  arrangement  was  such  that  pupils  leaving  the 
room  temporarily  passed  through  it.  One  day  one  of 
the  children  casually  remarked  that  some  one  was 
sick  in  there  with  viruela  (smallpox).  I  went  in  and 
found  a  child  apparently  in  the  worst  stages  of  con- 
fluent smallpox.  Now  in  our  own  dear  America  this 
would  have  meant  almost  hysteria.  There  would  have 
been  head  lines  an  inch  deep  in  the  local  papers,  the 
school  would  have  been  closed  for  two  weeks,  a  gen- 
eral vaccination  furor  would  have  set  in,  and  many 
mammas  and  little  children  would  have  dreamed  of 
confluent  smallpox  for  weeks  to  come.  But  we  did 
none  of  these  things  in  the  Philippines.  We  merely 
requested  the  authorities  to  remove  the  smallpox  pa- 
tient, and  ordered  the  janitor  to  scrub  the  room  with 
soap  and  water.  Nobody  quitted  school;  nobody  got 
the  smallpox;  and  the  whole  thing  was  only  an 
incident. 

Later  I  was  destined  to  pass  through  the  cholera 
epidemic  of  1902-03,  and  I  realized  how  great  a  factor 
a  daily  paper  is  in  creating  public  hysteria.  Part  of 
the  time  I  was  in  Manila,  where  the  disease  was  under 
much  better  control  than  it  ever  was  in  the  provinces 
(where  it  was  not  under  control  at  all),  and  there  was 


WAR  ALARMS  AND  SUFFERING  POOR     191 

about  five  or  six  times  as  much  worry,  talk,  and  excite- 
ment in  Manila  as  ever  prevailed  outside. 

I  have  lived  in  towns  with  newspapers  and  in  towns 
without  them,  and  have  come  to  believe  with  Gilbert 
Chesterton  that  the  newspaper  is  used  chiefly  for  the 
suppression  of  truth,  and  am  inclined  to  add,  on  my 
own  account,  the  propagation  of  hysteria. 


CHAPTER  FIFTEEN 


the  Filipino's  Christmas  festivities  and  his 
religion 


Autumn  Weather  —  Winter  Weather  —  A  Christmas  Tree 
for  Filipino  Children  —  A  Christmas  Eve  Ball  —  Early 
Mass  on  Christmas  —  Visitors  —  Attitude  op  the  Fili- 
pino to  Religion  —  His  Ideas  op  the  Fine  Arts  formed 
by  the  Church  —  Joys  and  Sorrows  carried  to  Church 
—  Religion  not  a  Source  of  Party  Animosity  —  Fili- 
pinos more  Likely  to  become  Rationalists  than  Prot- 
estants. 

WHAT  with  typhoons,  earthquakes,  talk  of 
insurrection,  the  novelty  of  military  life 
about  us,  and  the  effort  to  comprehend 
the  native,  the  days  sped  quickly  by  at  Capiz.  Octo- 
ber and  November  came  and  went  in  alternate  stages 
of  storm  and  sunshine.  For  days  at  a  time  the  fine 
rain  drove  like  a  snow  storm  before  a  northeast  wind, 
and  it  was  difficult  to  realize  that  the  deluge  was  the 
remnant  of  a  great  blizzard  which,  starting  on  the 
vast  frozen  plains  of  Siberia,  had  swept  southward, 
till  crossing  the  China  Sea  it  gathered  up  a  warm 
flood  and  inundated  us  with  it.  We  spoke  of  its  being 
autumn  at  home,  but  we  could  not  realize  the  fact. 
When  clear  days  came,  they  were  so  warm,  so  glinting 
with  sunlight,  that  it  seemed  all  the  world  must  be 


FILIPINO'S  CHRISTMAS  FESTIVITIES     193 

bathed  in  glory.  It  would  rain  steadily  for  a  week  or 
ten  days,  and  then  there  would  come  one  of  those 
clear  days  when  every  breath  of  vapor  was  blown  out 
of  the  sky,  the  heavens  were  a  field  of  turquoise,  and 
the  mountain  chains  were  printed  against  them  in 
softest  purple. 

With  the  month  of  December  the  weather  changed, 
the  rain  ceased,  and  the  dry  chill  winter  of  the  tropics 
set  in.  The  nights  were  so  cold  that  one  was  glad  to 
nestle  into  bed  under  a  blanket.  The  northeast  wind 
still  blew,  but  fresh  and  cool  from  the  sea,  and  hardly 
a  cloud  floated  in  the  sky.  We  drove  often  out  to  the 
open  beach  where  the  surf  came  in  gloriously,  and  the 
great  mountain  island  of  Sibullian,  away  to  the  north, 
hung  half  cloud,  half  land  in  the  sky. 

Christmas  was  near  at  hand,  and  we  began  to  think 
of  turkey  and  other  essentials.  Presents  to  home 
folks  had  to  be  mailed  early  in  November,  and  after 

that  an  apathy  came  on  us.    Thanks  to  Mrs.  C , 

the  energetic  wife  of  a  military  man  of  private  for-- 
tune,  Christmas  was  destined  to  wear,  after  all,  an 
Anglo-Saxon  hue. 

The  Filipinos  do  not  understand  Santa  Claus  or  the 
Christmas  Tree.  The  giving  of  presents  is  by  no 
means  a  universal  custom  of  theirs,  and  such  as  are 
given  are  given  on  the  festival  of  Tres  Reyes,  or  The 
Three  Kings,  some  six  or  eight  days  after  Christmas. 

Mrs.  C decided  to  give  a  Christmas  festival  to 

certain  Filipino  children,  and  she  actually  managed 
to  disinter,  from  the  Chinese  shops,  a  box  of  tiny 
candles,  and  the  little  devices  for  fastening  them  to 

13 


194     IMPRESSIONS   OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

the  tree.  No  Christmas  pine  could  be  found,  but  she 
got  a  lemon  tree,  glossy  of  foliage.  With  the  candles 
and  strings  of  popcorn  and  colored  paper  flowers, 
this  was  converted  into  quite  the  natural  article.  She 
invited  several  of  us  to  dinner  on  Christmas  Eve,  and 
we  went  early  to  see  the  celebration. 

By  half-past  six  o'clock,  when  the  tropical  dusk  had 
closed  down,  the  little  guests  began  to  arrive,  each  in 
charge  of  a  servant.  There  were  twenty-five  twinkling, 
berry-eyed  babelets  with  their  satiny  black  down 
hanging  like  bangs  over  their  eyes,  and  their  tubby 
little  stomachs  covered  with  fine  garments  and  bound 
about  with  gorgeous  sashes.  They  squatted  on  their 
little  heels  and  sucked  their  little  thumbs,  and  waited 
in  wondering  patience  for  this  strange  mystery  to 
occur.  As  many  American  children  would  have  made 
the  air  noisy  for  a  block  around. 

The  windows  of  the  house  were  thrown  wide  open, 
and  the  sliding  doors  which  pull  back  all  around  the 
base  boards  were  open  too,  so  that  the  whole  interior 
was  visible  from  the  street  below.  There  a  great 
crowd  had  gathered,  men,  women,  and  children,  beg- 
gars, and  many  of  the  elder  brothers  and  sisters  of 
the  favored  guests  within.  Nearly  every  child  was 
displaying  a  toy  that  seems  to  be  the  special  evidence 
of  Christmas  in  the  Philippines  —  some  sort  of  animal 
made  of  tissue  paper  and  mounted  on  wheels.  It  is 
lighted  within  like  a  paper  lantern,  and  can  be  dragged 
about.  Great  is  the  pride  in  these  transparencies,  and 
great  the  ambition  displayed  in  the  construction.  Pigs, 
dogs,  cats,  birds,  elephants,  and  tigers,  of  most  weird 


. 

•    _                        — 

- 

;       1 

1 

FILIPINO'S   CHRISTMAS  FESTIVITIES     195 

and  imposing  proportions  they  are,  and  no  few  feuds 
and  jealousies  grew  out  of  their  possession. 

When  the  coverings  were  drawn  off  the  tree,  and 
the  candles  were  lighted,  the  crowd  in  the  street 
waxed  quite  vociferous,  but  the  babies  merely  uttered 
little  ecstatic  sighs.  They  took  their  presents  and 
turned  the  toys  over  gravely,  and  sucked  gingerly  at 
the  sweets.  Then  one  by  one  they  marched  out  to 
join  their  relatives  and  the  transparencies. 

We  had  a  good  dinner  and  drank  to  the  homeland 

and  a  merry  Christmas.     Afterwards  Captain  C 

leaned  out  of  the  window  and  cried  to  us  to  look  at 
the  snow.  The  moon  was  just  overhead,  ringed  round 
with  a  field  of  cirrus  clouds.  They  were  piled  one  on 
top  of  another,  glistening  and  cool,  with  the  sheen  of 
real  snow  by  moonlight.  I  have  never  seen  such  an 
effect  in  our  own  land,  and  only  once  subsequently 
here. 

There  was  a  ball  that  night,  and  we  were  all  going. 
While  we  were  at  dinner,  the  waits  came  in  and  sang 
in  the  hallway  just  as  in  merry  England  they  sing 
under  the  window.  But  if  the  English  waits  sing  as 
badly  as  the  Filipino  ones,  then  the  poetry  of  the  wait 
songs  is  gone  from  me  forever.  These  of  ours  were 
provided  with  tambourines,  and  they  sang  an  old 
Latin  chant  with  such  throaty  voices  that  it  sounded 
as  if  the  tones  were  being  dragged  out  by  the  roots. 

By  half-past  nine  the  local  band,  or  one  of  them  — 
for  most  Filipino  towns  rejoice  in  half  a  dozen  — 
came  round  to  escort  us  to  the  hall.  This  attention 
was,  as  President  Harper  always  declared  of  the  many 


196     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

donations  to  the  University  of  Chicago,  "  utterly  un- 
solicited on  our  part,"  and  was  the  result  of  a  hope 
of  largesse,  and  of  a  high  Filipino  conception  of  doing 
honor  to  the  stranger.  Preceded  by  the  band  and  sur- 
rounded by  a  motley  assembly  of  several  hundred 
people,  the  children  dragging  their  transparencies  with 
them,  we  strolled  up  the  quarter  of  a  mile  of  street 

intervening  between  the  Lieutenant  and  Mrs.  C 's 

house  and  the  Filipino  mansion  where  the  ball  was 
held.  When  we  entered,  the  guests  all  rose  to  do  us 
honor,  and  shortly  thereafter  the  rigadoon  was  called. 

The  ball  differed  little  in  its  essential  features  from 
other  balls,  save  that,  owing  to  its  being  Christmas 
Eve,  the  Filipino  men,  in  accordance  with  some  local 
tradition,  discarded  the  usual  black  evening  dress,  and 
wore  white  trousers,  high-colored  undershirts,  and 
camisas,  or  outside  Chino  shirts,  of  gauzy  pina  or 
sinamay.  This  is  the  ordinary  garb  of  a  workingman, 
and  corresponds  to  the  national  or  peasant  costume  of 
European  countries;  and  its  use  signifies  a  tribute  to 
nationality. 

At  midnight  the  church  bells  began  to  toll,  and  the 
three  or  four  hundred  ball  guests  adjourned  en  masse 
to  the  church.  This  building  is  larger  than  any  I  can 
remember  in  America,  except  the  churches  of  Chicago 
and  New  York,  and  was  packed  with  a  dense  throng. 
It  was  lighted  with  perhaps  two  thousand  candles,  and 
was  decked  from  lantern  to  chapel  with  newly  made 
paper  flowers.  The  high  altar  had  a  front  of  solid 
silver,  and  the  great  silver  candlesticks  were  glistening 
in  the  light, 


FILIPINO'S  CHRISTMAS  FESTIVITIES     197 

The  usual  choir  of  men  had  given  place  to  the  waits 
with  their  tambourines,  though  the  pipe  organ  was 
occasionally  used.  The  mass  was  long  and  tedious,  and 
I  was  chiefly  interested  in  what  I  think  was  intended 
to  represent  the  Star  of  Bethlehem.  This  was  a  great 
five-pointed  star  of  red  and  yellow  tissue  paper,  with 
a  tail  like  a  comet.  It  was  ingeniously  fastened  to  a 
pulley  on  a  wire  which  extended  from  a  niche  directly 
behind  the  high  altar  to  the  organ  loft  at  the  rear  of 
the  church.  The  star  made  schedule  trips  between 
the  altar  and  the  loft,  running  over  our  heads  with 
a  dolorous  rattle.  The  gentleman  who  moved  the 
mechanism  was  a  sacristan  in  red  cotton  drawers  and 
a  lace  cassock,  who  sat  in  full  view  in  the  niche  be- 
hind the  high  altar.  There  seemed  to  be  a  spirited 
rivalry  between  him  and  the  tambourine  artists  as 
to  which  could  contribute  the  most  noise,  and  I  think 
a  fair  judge  would  have  granted  it  a  drawn  battle. 

Mass  was  over  at  one,  and  we  went  back  to  our  ball, 
and  the  supper  which  was  awaiting  us.  I  shall  speak 
hereafter  of  feasts,  so  will  give  no  time  to  this  particu- 
lar one.  Dancing  was  resumed  by  half-past  two,  and 
shortly  afterwards  I  gave  up  and  went  home.  Sleep 
was  about  to  visit  my  weary  eyelids  when  that  out- 
rageous band  swept  by,  welcoming  the  dawn  by  what 
it  fancied  was  patriotic  music  —  "There'll  be  a  Hot 
Time,"  "Just  One  Girl,"  "After  the  Ball,"  etc.  It 
passed,  and  I  was  once  more  yielding  to  slumber,  when 
the  church  bells  began,  and  some  enterprising  Chinese 
let  off  fire  crackers.  I  gave  up  the  attempt  to  rest,  and 
rose  and  dressed.    Then  the  sacristan  from  the  church 


198     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

appeared  in  his  scarlet  trousers  and  cassock.  He  car- 
ried a  silver  dish,  which  looked  like  a  card  receiver 
surmounted  by  a  Maltese  cross  and  a  bell.  The  sac- 
ristan rang  this  bell,  which  was  most  melodious,  went 
down  on  one  knee,  and  I  deposited  a  peso  in  the  dish. 
He  uttered  a  benediction  and  disappeared.  After  him 
came  the  procession  of  common  people,  adults  and 
children,  shyly  uttering  their  Buenas  Pascuas.  We 
had,  forewarned  by  the  sagacious  Romoldo,  laid  in  a 
store  of  candy,  cigarettes,  cakes,  and  wine.  So  to  the 
children  a  sweet,  and  to  the  parents  a  cigarette  and  a 
drink  of  wine,  —  thus  was  our  Christmas  cheer  dis- 
pensed. Later  we  ate  our  Christmas  dinner  with 
chicken  in  lieu  of  turkey,  and  cranberry  sauce  and 
plum  pudding  from  the  commissary.  The  Filipinos 
honored  the  day  by  decorating  their  house-fronts  with 
flags  and  bunting,  and  at  night  by  illuminating  them 
with  candles  in  glass  shades  stuck  along  the  window 
sills. 

The  church  in  the  provinces  is  at  once  the  place  of 
worship,  the  theatre,  the  dispenser  of  music  and  art, 
the  place  where  rich  and  poor  meet,  if  not  on  the 
plane  of  equality,  in  relations  that  bridge  the  gulf  of 
material  prosperity  with  the  dignity  of  their  common 
faith. 

So  far  as  the  provincial  Filipino  conceives  of  palaces 
and  architectural  triumphs,  the  conception  takes  the 
form  of  a  church.  There  are  no  art  galleries,  no  pal- 
aces, no  magnificent  public  buildings  in  the  Philippines, 
but  there  are  hundreds  of  beautiful  churches,  of  By- 
zantine and  Early  Renaissance  architecture.    You  may 


FILIPINO'S  CHRISTMAS  FESTIVITIES     199 

find  them  in  the  coast  towns  and  sometimes  even  in 
the  mountainous  interior,  their  simple  and  beautiful 
lines  facing  the  plaza,  their  interiors  rich  with  black 
and  white  tiling  and  with  colored  glass.  The  silver 
facings  of  the  altars  and  their  melodious  bell  chimes 
are  the  most  patent  links  which  bind  the  Philippines 
to  an  older  civilization. 

As  far  as  he  has  ever  come  in  contact  with  beautiful 
music,  the  provincial  Filipino  has  met  it  in  the  church. 
Nearly  every  one  boasts  its  pipe  organ  imported  from 
Europe,  and  in  the  choir  lofts  you  may  find  the  great 
vellum-leaved  folios  of  manuscript  music,  with  their 
three-cornered,  square,  and  diamond-shaped  notes. 
They  know  little  of  the  masses  of  Mozart,  Gounod,  or 
more  modern  composers,  but  they  know  the  Gregorian 
chants,  and  the  later  compositions  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
Often  badly  rendered  —  for  nowhere  are  voices  more 
misused  than  in  the  Philippines,  —  their  music  is 
nevertheless  grand  and  inspiring. 

On  the  walls  of  churches  and  conventos  too  are 
found  pictures  in  oil,  often  gloomy,  full  of  tortures  and 
death,  as  Spanish  paintings  incline  to  be,  yet  essen- 
tially true  art  —  pictures  which  it  is  to  be  hoped  will 
survive  the  inundation  of  American  commercial  en- 
ergy. The  extract-of-beef  advertisements  and  the 
varied  " girls' '  of  all  pursuits  have  found  their  way 
into  the  Philippines;  and  the  Filipino,  to  our  sorrow 
be  it  said,  takes  kindly  to  them. 

So  far  as  the  Filipino  knows  pageantry,  it  is  the 
pageantry  of  the  Church.  He  knows  no  civic  pro- 
cessions, no  industrial  pomp,  such  as  exploits  itself 


200     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

in  the  Mardi  Gras  at  New  Orleans,  or  the  Veiled 
Prophet  of  St.  Louis.  He  is  even  a  stranger  to  the 
torchlight  procession  of  politics,  and  the  military  dis- 
plays of  our  civil  holidays.  Neither  the  Masons,  nor 
the  Knights  Templars,  nor  the  Knights  of  Pythias, 
nor  the  Ancient  Order  of  Hibernians,  with  their  plumes 
and  banners,  have  any  perceptible  foothold  in  the 
Philippines.  But  in  Holy  Week  and  certain  other 
great  festival  or  penitential  seasons  of  the  Church, 
the  great  religious  processions  take  place  —  floats 
sheathed  in  bunting  and  decked  with  innumerable 
candles  in  crystal  shades,  carrying  either  the  altar  of 
the  Virgin  or  some  of  the  many  groups  of  figures  pic- 
turing events  in  the  life  and  passion  of  the  Saviour. 
Almost  every  provincial  family  of  wealth  owns  one  of 
these  cars,  and  the  wooden  figures  surmounted  by  wax 
heads,  which  constitute  the  group.  At  the  proper 
seasons  the  figures  are  clothed  in  gorgeous  raiment 
decked  with  jewels,  and  the  car  is  put  at  the  service 
of  the  Church  for  use  in  the  procession.  The  floats 
are  placed  about  a  hundred  yards  apart,  and  between 
them  the  people  form  in  two  parallel  lines,  one  on 
each  side  of  the  street,  every  person  carrying  a  lighted 
candle.  When  there  are  twenty  or  thirty  floats,  and 
half  as  many  bands,  the  glitter  and  brilliancy  of  it 
all  strikes  even  our  satiated  minds.  What  must  it  be 
to  the  untravelled  child  of  the  soil? 

When  the  Filipinos  win  a  fight  or  an  election,  or 
fall  heirs  to  any  particular  luck,  they  do  not  express 
their  enthusiasm  as  we  do  in  fire  crackers,  noise,  and 
trades  processions.     They  go  sedately  to  church  and 


FILIPINO'S   CHRISTMAS   FESTIVITIES     201 

sing  the  Te  Deum.  And  as  we  enjoy  the  theatre,  not 
merely  for  the  play,  but  for  the  audience  and  its  sug- 
gestions of  a  people  who  have  put  care  behind  them 
and  have  met  to  exhibit  their  material  prosperity  in 
silks  and  jewels,  so  do  the  Filipinos  enjoy  the  splen- 
dor of  the  congregation  on  feast  days.  The  women  are 
robed  as  for  balls  in  silken  skirts  of  every  hue  —  azure, 
rose,  apple-green,  violet,  and  orange.  Their  filmy 
camisas  and  panuelos  are  painted  in  sprays  of  blos- 
soms or  embroidered  in  silks  and  seed  pearls.  On 
their  gold-columned  necks  are  diamond  necklaces,  and 
ropes  of  pearls  half  as  big  as  bird's  eggs;  while  the 
black  lace  mantillas  are  fastened  to  their  dusky  heads 
by  jewelled  birds,  and  butterflies  of  emeralds,  sapphires, 
and  diamonds. 

The  first  time  I  went  to  church  in  Capiz  and  looked 
down  from  the  choir  loft  on  the  congregation,  I  could 
think  of  nothing  but  a  kaleidoscope,  and  the  colored 
motes  that  fall  continually  into  new  forms  and  shapes. 
When  the  results  of  the  war  had  made  themselves 
felt,  and  the  cholera  had  ravaged  the  province,  this 
variety  of  color  was  lost,  and  the  congregation  appeared 
a  veritable  house  of  mourning.  This  was  not,  how- 
ever, due  to  the  appalling  mortality,  but  to  the  Fili- 
pinos' punctilious  habit  of  putting  on  mourning.  When 
death  visits  a  family,  rich  or  poor,  even  the  most  dis- 
tant relatives  go  into  mourning,  and  they  cling  to  it 
for  the  required  time. 

If  the  reader  will  take  into  consideration  all  that  I 
have  said  about  the  part  played  by  the  Church  in 
Filipino  life,   and  at  the  same  time  consider  their 


202     IMPRESSIONS   OF    THE   PHILIPPINES 

insular  isolation,  their  lack  of  familiarity  either  through 
literature  or  travel  with  other  civilizations,  he  will 
readily  perceive  that  religion  means  a  totally  differ- 
ent thing  in  the  Philippines  from  what  it  does  in 
America,  even  in  Roman  Catholic  America. 

To  the  complacent  Protestant  evangelist  who 
smacks  his  lips  in  anticipation  of  the  future  conquest 
of  these  Islands,  I  would  say  frankly  that  there  is  no 
room  for  Protestantism  in  the  Philippines.  The  intro- 
spective quality  which  is  inherent  in  true  Protestant- 
ism is  not  in  the  Filipino  temperament.  Neither  arc 
fhe  vein  of  simplicity  and  the  dogmatic  spirit  which 
made  the  strength  of  the  Reformation.  Protestant- 
ism will,  of  course,  make  some  progress  so  long  as  the 
fire  is  artificially  fanned.  There  will  always  be  found 
a  few  who  cling  ardently  to  it.  But  most  Americans 
with  whom  I  have  talked  (and  their  name  is  legion) 
have  agreed  with  me  in  thinking  that  it  will  never  be 
strong  here. 

The  attitude  of  the  Filipino  Catholic  is  at  once  tol- 
erant and  positive.  It  is  positive  because  without  any 
research  into  theological  disputes  the  ordinary  Fili- 
pino is  emotionally  loyal  to  his  Church  and  satisfied 
with  the  very  positive  promises  which  that  Church 
gives  him.  It  ministers  not  only  to  his  spiritual  but 
to  his  material  needs  on  earth,  and  it  promises  him 
in  no  circumlocutory  terms  salvation  or  damnation. 
It  either  gives  him  or  denies  him  absolution.  He  be- 
lieves in  it  with  the  implicit  faith  of  one  who  has  never 
investigated.  On  the  other  hand,  he  is  tolerant  with 
the  tolerance  of  one  who  has  in  his  blood  none  of  the 


FILIPINO'S   CHRISTMAS   FESTIVITIES     203 

acrimony  begotten  by  an  ancestry  alternately  con- 
querors and  victims  through  their  faith.  The  Filipino 
Catholic  is  far  more  tolerant  than  the  Irish  or  German 
Catholic.  But  the  Philippines  have  known  no  battle 
of  the  Boyne,  no  Thirty  Years'  War.  When  the 
abuses  of  the  friars  here  led  to  revolt  and  insurrection, 
the  ultimate  outcome  of  the  struggle  would  have  been 
probably  a  religious  secession  from  Rome,  as  well  as 
political  severance  from  Spain,  had  not  the  accident 
of  the  Spanish-American  War  precipitated  us  upon  the 
scene,  and  settled  the  matter  by  the  immediate  expul- 
sion of  the  Spanish  Government.  The  only  real  point 
of  infection  left  to  create  a  sore  in  the  new  body  Fili- 
pino —  the  friar  lands  —  was  fortunately  so  treated 
by  Secretary  Taft  that  it  ceased  to  menace  the  State 
or  threaten  to  mingle  religion  with  government. 

The  Filipinos  are  tolerant  of  Protestantism  because 
to  them  it  is  still  a  purely  religious  and  not  a  civil 
influence.  They  have  not  killed  or  been  killed 
for  religion;  for  it  they  have  not  burnt  the  homes 
of  others,  nor  seen  their  own  rooftrees  blaze;  they 
have  not  gained  power  or  office  through  religion; 
they  have  neither  won  nor  lost  elections  through  it. 
They  have  the  same  tolerance  in  religious  matters 
that  they  have  in  regard  to  the  Copernican  Theory  or 
Kepler's  Laws.  Religion,  as  pure  religion,  unrelated 
to  land  or  land  titles,  property  or  office,  is  no  more 
the  source  of  party  animosity  to  them  than  to  us. 
Secretary  Taft  was  wise  enough  to  see  that,  and  elim- 
inated the  cause  that  threatened  to  make  religion  a 
vital  question. 


504     IMPRESSIONS   OF    THE   PHILIPPINES 

But  if  religion  is  not  consciously  vital  to  the  Fili- 
pinos, as  they  themselves  would  conceive  and  act  on 
it  (and  I  make  the  assertion  in  the  assumption  that 
the  reader  understands  as  I  do  by  consciously  vital 
that  for  which  the  individual  or  the  race  is  willing  to 
die  singly  or  collectively),  the  unprejudiced  observer 
must  admit  that  it  is  vital  to  their  ultimate  evolution, 
vital  in  just  the  sense  that  any  function  is  vital  to  one 
who  is  in  need  of  it.  As  I  said  before,  they  are  not 
essentially  a  religious  people;  but  the  early  Spanish 
discoverers  prescribed  religion  as  a  doctor  prescribes 
a  missing  ingredient  in  the  food  of  an  invalid,  and  the 
Filipinos  have  benefited  thereby.  Roman  Catholicism 
is  just  what  the  Filipino  needs.  He  has  no  zest  for 
morbid  introspection,  he  does  not  feel  the  need  of 
bearing  testimony  to  cosmic  truth,  and  in  his  lack  of 
feeling  that  need  is  just  as  helpless  as  the  man  whose 
system  cannot  manufacture  the  necessary  amount  of 
digestive  juices  or  red  blood  corpuscles;  he  is  an 
invalid,  who  must  be  supplied  artificially  with  what 
his  system  lacks. 

I  am  quite  sure  that  the  Catholic  clergy,  as  repre- 
sented by  the  American  Archbishop,  bishops,  and 
priests,  are  certain  that  Protestantism  holds  no  threats 
for  the  Church  in  the  Philippines  other  than  that  it 
may  be  the  opening  wedge  in  a  schism  which  will  send 
the  Filipino  not  only  out  of  the  Church,  but  to  ration- 
alism of  the  most  Voltairian  hue.  When  danger  really 
threatens  the  Church  in  the  Philippines,  it  will  be  no 
half-way  danger.  The  Filipino  will  be  orthodox  as  he 
is  now,  formally,  positively  orthodox,  or  he  will  be 


FILIPINO'S   CHRISTMAS   FESTIVITIES     205 

cynically  heterodox.  As  God  made  him,  he  might  in 
time  have  arrived  at  the  philosophy  of  Omar,  "  Drink, 
for  ye  know  not  why  or  when,"  or  the  identical  phi- 
losophy of  Epicurus,  "Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to- 
morrow we  die."  But  the  Church  found  him,  and 
recognizing  his  peculiarities  artfully  substituted  her 
own  phrase,  "Eat  and  drink  in  peace,  for  to-morrow 
you  die  in  the  full  knowledge  that  pertains  to  your 
salvation."  Let  no  proselyting  evangelist  delude 
himself  with  the  idea  that  the  Filipino  has  the 
mental  bias  which  leads  him  to  think,  "  Let  me  neither 
eat  nor  drink  till  I  know  whence  I  came  and  whither 
I  go."  That  is  the  spirit  of  true  Protestantism,  which 
discovers  a  new  light  on  faith  every  decade  and  still 
is  seeking,  seeking  for  the  perfect  light. 

But  if  the  Church  in  the  Philippines  is  in  no  real 
danger  from  Protestantism,  it  is  in  more  or  less  immi- 
nent danger  from  two  sources  —  the  necessity  for  re- 
form in  the  Church  itself,  and  the  growing  national 
sense  of  the  Filipinos,  which  leads  them  to  demand 
their  own  clergy,  and  to  resent  to  the  point  of  seces- 
sion a  too  firm  hold  by  the  new  American  clergy. 


CHAPTER  SIXTEEN 

MY  GOLD-HUNTING  EXPEDITION 

Word  of  an  Abandoned  Gold  Mine  near  Manila  —  I  arise 
before  three  a.  m.  and  find  the  town  asleep  —  our 
Trip  down  the  River  —  Scenery  and  Sights  by  the 
Way  —  Three  Buffaloes  are  brought  to  drag  us  over 
the  Mud  —  Digging  for  Gold  —  I  fail  as  an  Overseer 
of  Diggers  —  Results  of  the  Digging  Unsatisfactory 
—  The  Homeward  Trip. 

AFTER  Christmas  we  settled  down  to  humdrum 
work,  and  barring  my  gold-hunting  experi- 
L  ence  there  was  little  to  relieve  the  daily 
monotony  of  existence.  I  wrote  an  account  of  the 
gold-hunting  expedition  as  one  of  a  series  of  news- 
paper articles  published  in  The  Manila  Times.  With 
the  consent  of  the  editors,  I  now  transcribe  it  bodily 
here,  for,  without  any  gleam  of  romance  or  adventure, 
the  experience  was  one  typical  of  the  land  and  of  our 
life  here,  which  I  believe  the  generous  reader  will  be 
willing  to  accept  without  any  attempt  on  my  part  to 
embellish  it  with  excitement  and  lurid  writing. 

Our  Supervisor  had  gotten  hold  of  a  legend  of  an 
abandoned  mine  in  a  mountain  some  four  or  five  miles 
from  town.  According  to  the  native  story,  half  a 
century  or  more  before  this  period  the  mine  was 
worked,  and  considerable  quantities  of  gold  were  taken 
out  of  it.    But  dissensions  arose  between  the  barrios 


MY   GOLD-HUNTING  EXPEDITION        207 

that  supplied  the  labor,  and  finally  the  native  priests 
ordered  the  shaft  to  be  filled  and  closed,  and  all  work 
to  cease,  lest  it  bring  a  curse  upon  the  people.  They 
obeyed,  and  the  mining  interests  thereabouts  fell  into 
oblivion. 

The  Supervisor  had,  with  native  assistance,  located 
the  spot,  and  made  a  few  crude  washings  in  which  he 
found  "  color."  Then  he  came  back  to  make  a  sluice 
box,  and,  together  with  a  young  lieutenant  of  con- 
stabulary, intended  to  pass  the  Sabbath  day  in  further 
investigation  of  the  mine's  possibilities. 

The  occasion  was  too  tempting.  I  promptly  laid 
siege  to  the  Supervisor's  wife,  pleading  that  she  induce 
her  liege  to  let  us  accompany  him.  As  he  was  good- 
natured  and  the  trip  was  short  and  easy,  he  consented. 
We  were  to  leave  town  in  a  baroto  at  three  a.  m.  to  get 
the  benefit  of  the  tide.  At  half-past  nine  the  night 
before,  the  lunch  basket  containing  my  contribution  to 
the  commissary  department  was  packed  and  suspended 
from  the  ceiling  by  a  rope,  protected  by  a  petroleum- 
soaked  rag,  and  I  went  to  bed  to  dream  of  gold  mines, 
country  houses,  yachts,  and  European  travel.  It  was 
ten  minutes  to  three  when  I  scrambled  out  in  a  great 
fright  lest  I  should  be  late  and  keep  the  others  waiting. 
I  lighted  the  alcohol  lamp  to  boil  the  coffee,  and  flew 
into  my  garments.  But  I  dressed  and  ate  and  still 
they  came  not.  So  I  poked  my  head  out  of  the  window 
into  the  sad  radiance  of  a  setting  moon. 

It  was  a  town  sleeping  peacefully,  and  yet  with  every 
hint  of  warlike  preparation  that  scattered  itself  along 
the  river.    In  front  of  the  officers'  quarters  a  sentry 


208     IMPRESSIONS   OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

clanked  up  and  down  the  pavement.  From  the  mili- 
tary jail  came  a  sound  of  voices  and  the  creaking  of 
benches,  as  the  guard  turned  on  the  hard  bamboo 
seats,  mingled  also  with  a  steady  tramp.  More  sentries 
could  be  seen  across  the  river,  where  the  troop  bar- 
racks loomed  up  and  almost  hid  the  hills  which  gloomed 
over  the  town.  The  bridge  was  in  shadow,  but  now 
and  then  a  tall  figure,  gun  on  shoulder,  emerged  at 
its  farthest  end  into  a  pale  little  dash  of  moonlight. 
The  lanterns  which  the  Filipinos  hang  out  of  their 
front  windows  in  lieu  of  street  lamps  burned  spec- 
trally, because  they  were  clogged  with  lamp  black. 
And  the  brooding  and  hush  of  night  were  disturbed 
only  by  the  rhythmic  footfalls,  or  by  the  occasional 
slap  of  a  wave  against  the  bridge  rests,  or  by  a  long 
shrill  police  whistle  which  told  that  the  municipal 
police  were  awake  and  complying  with  the  regulation 
to  blow  their  whistles  at  stated  intervals  for  the  pur- 
pose of  testifying  to  the  same.  It  was  all  full  of  charm 
and  suggestion,  singularly  like  and  singularly  unlike 
an  American  village  under  the  same  conditions  of  light 
and  temperature. 

The  moon  sank  so  low  that  the  mists  caught  it  and 
turned  its  sheen  into  a  surly  red.  Presently  a  sentry 
challenged  up  by  the  jail,  and  then  the  glint  of  white 
clothing  grew  distinct.  I  unhooked  the  lunch  basket 
and  prowled  my  way  out  of  the  house,  seeking  to  dis- 
turb nobody  and  feeling  quite  adventurous. 

Our  baroto  with  six  native  oarsmen  was  waiting  at 
the  stone  stairway  in  the  shadow  of  the  bridge,  and 
as  the  tide  was  beginning  to  turn  we  lost  no  time  in 


MY   GOLD-HUNTING  EXPEDITION       209 

bestowing  ourselves  and  our  provisions.  The  middle 
of  the  baroto,  for  a  distance  of  about  six  feet,  was 

floored  and  canopied.    Mr.  L took  the  far  corner, 

his  wife  pushed  herself  and  a  couple  of  pillows  up 
against  him;  then  I  braced  myself  and  my  pillows 
against  her;  and  the  unfortunate  lieutenant  fell  heir 
to  the  fate  of  an  obliging  young  gentleman  and  was 
stowed  away  at  the  end,  supported  (or  incommoded) 
by  the  lunch  baskets  and  an  unsympathetic  soap-box 
filled  with  water  bottles.  The  men  unslung  their  re- 
volvers, and  we  disposed  ourselves  so  as  to  secure  a 
proper  equilibrium  to  our  tippy  craft,  and  were  off. 

We  slipped  down  the  river,  aided  by  the  tide,  and 
in  a  few  minutes  were  far  away  from  the  last  house, 
the  last  gleam  of  light,  and  the  least  sound  of  human 
life.  Save  for  the  soft  dip  of  oars,  not  a  sound  broke 
the  night.  Yet  it  was  not  silence  so  much  as  the  sense 
of  deep  respiration,  as  if  the  earth  slept  and  sent  up 
an  invocation  to  the  watching  heavens.  The  banks 
were  thickly  weeded  at  the  water's  edge  with  nipa, 
and  behind  that  were  knolls  of  bamboo  with  here  and 
there  a  gnarled  and  tortured  tree  shape  silhouetted 
against  the  faint  sky.  Occasionally  we  came  to  a 
convention  of  fireflies  in  that  tree  which  they  so 
much  affect,  the  name  of  which  is  unknown  to  me, 
but  which  in  size  and  outline  resembles  a  wild  cherry. 
Millions  of  them  starred  its  branches,  and  in  the  sur- 
rounding gloom  it  winked  and  sparkled  like  a  fairy 
Christmas  tree. 

We  talked  little,  and  were  content  to  drink  in  the 
silence  and  the  strangeness,  till  by  and  by  the  wind 

14 


210     IMPRESSIONS   OF    THE   PHILIPPINES 

fell  cooler  and  we  knew  the  dawn  was  at  hand.  It 
seemed  to  come  suddenly,  bursting  out  of  the  east  in 
a  white  glare,  without  the  pearly  tints  and  soft  gray 
lights  that  mark  our  northern  day  births.  Then  the 
white  glare  changed  to  red,  to  a  crimson  glow  that 
painted  the  world  with  its  glory,  and  dying,  left  little 
nebulous  masses  floating  in  the  azure,  tinted  with 
pink,  gold,  and  purple. 

With  the  first  touch  of  light  we  turned  out  of  the 
main  river,  which  was  now  a  broad  estuary  as  it  neared 
the  sea,  and  fled  down  a  water  lane  not  over  fifteen  or 
twenty  feet  wide,  absolutely  walled  with  impenetrable 
nipa  growths.  From  this  we  emerged  just  as  the  day 
played  its  last  spectacular  effects,  and  found  ourselves 
in  a  deep  oval  indentation,  glassy  as  an  inland  lake, 
whose  bosom  caught  the  changing  cloud  tints  like  a 
mirror,  and  whose  deep  cool  green  borders  were  alive 
with  myriads  of  delighted  birds,  skimming,  chattering, 
calling.  Half  a  mile  away,  at  its  farther  end,  the  surf 
leaped  frothily  over  a  bar,  and  beyond  that  the  open 
sea  tumbled  and  flashed  in  the  first  sun-rays.  It  was 
idyllic  —  and  on  our  left  a  mere  stone's  throw,  it 
seemed,  behind  the  embowering  forest,  the  mountain 
of  our  quest  thrust  a  treeless,  grassy  shoulder  into  the 
blue. 

Mr.  L ,  however,  warned  us  that  our  way  was 

still  long  and  circuitous.  We  crossed  the  lagoon  and 
went  wandering  off  down  a  green,  silent  waterway 
which  rejoiced  in  the  appellation  of  "kut-i-kut"  and 
proved  itself  unworthy  of  the  same.  The  tide  was 
going  out  rapidly,  and  the  water  mark  on  the  tree 


MY   GOLD-HUNTING  EXPEDITION       211 

trunks  was  growing  high.  Sometimes  we  met  a  baroto 
on  its  way  to  market  with  a  cargo  of  three  chickens, 
five  cocoanuts,  two  bunches  of  bananas,  one  head  of 
the  family,  four  children,  and  several  women  unac- 
counted for.  The  freight  was  heaped  at  one  end,  and 
the  passengers  all  squatted  in  that  perfect,  uncom- 
municative equilibrium  which  a  Filipino  can  maintain 
for  hours  at  a  time.  Sometimes  we  came  out  where 
there  were  almost  a  hundred  square  yards  of  ground 
and  two  or  three  houses  and  the  stir  of  morning  life. 
Ladies  with  a  single  garment  looped  under  their  arm 
pits  were  pouring  water  over  themselves  from  cocoanut 
shells,  and  whole  colonies  of  game-cocks  were  tethered 
out  on  the  end  of  three  feet  of  twine,  cursing  each  other 
and  challenging  each  other  to  fights.  The  male  pop- 
ulation almost  to  a  man  was  engaged  in  the  process  of 
stroking  the  legs  of  these  jewels,  to  make  them  strong, 
and  some  of  the  children  were  helping. 

As  a  rule,  our  advent  generally  disturbed  these 
morning  devotions,  for  American  women  were  still 
comparatively  new  and  few  in  the  province  at  that 
time.  A  shout,  "Americanas!  "  usually  brought  the 
whole  village  to  the  waterside,  where  they  bowed 
and  smiled  and  stared,  proffering  hospitality,  and  ex- 
changing repartee  with  the  lieutenant,  who  used  the 
vernacular. 

Meanwhile  the  tide  went  out  and  out,  and  we  sank 
lower  and  lower  in  kut-i-kut  till  we  were  in  a  slimy 
ditch  with  four  feet  of  bank  on  each  side.  The  turns 
and  twists  grew  narrower,  and  the  difficulty  of  steer- 
ing our  long  baroto  around  these  grew  greater.    The 


212     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

men  got  out  and  waded,  pushing  the  baroto  lightly 
over  the  soft  ooze.  But  finally  this  failed.  It  was 
eight  o'clock,  the  sun  climbing  higher  and  burning 
fiercer,  when  we  stuck  ignominiously  in  the  mud  of 
kut-i-kut. 

After  a  short  consultation  the  lieutenant  sighed, 
cast  a  glance  at  the  mud  and  his  clean  leather  puttees, 
then  went  overboard,  taking  a  man  with  him.  They 
disappeared  in  the  nipa  swamps,  but  came  back  in 
half  an  hour  with  three  carabaos,  their  owners,  and  an 
army  of  volunteers. 

Our  motive  power,  being  hitched  tandem,  now  ex- 
tended round  a  couple  of  bends,  and  there  ensued  the 
wildest  confusion  in  an  endeavor  to  get  them  all 
started  at  the  same  time.  Apparently  it  could  n't 
be  done,  and  we  wasted  a  half-hour,  in  which  every 
native  in  the  swamp  seemed  to  be  giving  orders,  and 
the  overwhelming  desire  of  the  carabaos  was  to  swarm 
up  the  bank  and  get  out,  without  regard  to  the  effect 
on  the  baroto.  The  lieutenant  had  come  aboard  and 
was  sitting  on  the  high  prow  dangling  his  muddy  leg- 
gins  ahead.    To  him  Mr.  L in  disgust  suggested 

that  the  taos  were  making  little  real  effort  and  that 
he  "stir  'em  up."  So  the  lieutenant  drew  his  re- 
volver and  at  a  season  of  discord  aimed  it  carefully 
in  the  high  distance  and  fired. 

The  effect  on  the  humans  was  just  what  he  desired, 
but  he  did  not  allow  for  the  nervousness  of  the  cara- 
baos on  hearing  a  revolver  shot  in  a  locality  where  it 
is  distinctly  not  native.  The  unanimity  that  had  so 
long  been  sought  swept  like  an  epidemic  into  our  lum- 


MY   GOLD-HUNTING  EXPEDITION       213 

bering  steeds,  and  our  baroto  started  ahead  with  a 
firmness  of  purpose  that  sent  the  author  of  this  book 
flying  into  the  mud,  and  bumped  us  all  up  most  glo- 
riously as  we  lunged  roimd  the  corner.  The  good 
work  once  begun  was  not  allowed  to  fall  slack,  how- 
ever. The  lieutenant  caught  up  and  climbed  aboard, 
and  we  swept  through  the  three  miles  of  kut-i-kut  in 
a  wild  cavalcade,  rolling  like  a  ship  in  a  storm.  At 
its  end  we  struck  upon  water,  and  parted  from  our 
long-horned  ayudantes. 

A  short  row  up  a  narrowing  stream  brought  us  to 
the  place  of  disembarkation,  an  open  grassy  field  which 
swept  down  from  a  cleft  between  the  mountains,  We 
walked  across  this  till  we  came  to  a  brook  purling  out 
of  cool  green  shadows,  and  after  following  it  in  a 
rather  stiff  climb  for  about  forty-five  minutes,  came 
to  the  scene  of  investigation. 

There,  the  week  before,  the  men  had  built  a  dam, 
and  had  thrown  a  rough  framework  and  shelter  across 
the  bed  of  the  stream.    This  they  now  covered  with 

freshly  cut  boughs  and  leaves,  and  Mrs.  L and  I 

were  only  too  glad  to  spread  our  pillows  and  lie  down 
for  a  few  minutes  in  the  cool  shade  with  the  water 
bubbling  and  murmuring  underneath.  I  was  pretty 
well  done  with  the  heat  and  the  unaccustomed  exer- 
cise, but  was  soon  rested  and  helped  to  make  the 
coffee.  That  was  a  good  meal,  spiced  with  waiting, 
and  immediately  after  we  went  at  the  business  at 
hand. 

The  men  set  up  the  sluice  box,  which  the  taos  had 
brought  along  with  labor  and  disgust,  and  giving  me 


214     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

a  revolver,  commissioned  me  to  see  that  the  excavating 
department  kept  busy.  So  I  sat  on  the  edge  of  a 
twenty-foot  bank  clasping  the  Colt,  and  hanging  my 
feet  into  vacancy.  I  had  n't  felt  so  close  to  childhood 
for  many  a  long  year. 

For  an  hour  or  so  all  went  well,  and  the  cheerful 
tao  dug  and  delved  and  carried  without  murmur.  Then 
his  diligence  subsided  and  there  was  a  talk  of  "siesta." 
Somebody  down  at  the  sluice  box  shouted,  "Keep  busy 
up  there" ;  so,  after  one  or  two  efforts  to  hurry  up  our 
minions,  I  pointed  the  pistol  carefully  into  the  ground 
and  fired.  They  all  jumped  prodigiously  and  looked 
around.  But  I  could  n't  play  the  part.  I  did  n't  look 
stern,  and  I  simply  sat  there  grinning  fatuously  with 
the  sense  of  my  own  valor,  whereupon  the  taos  burst 
into  a  shout  of  laughter  and  seemed  to  think  a  bond 
of  friendship  had  been  established  between  us.  They 
got  lazier  and  lazier  and  smiled  at  me  more  and  more 
openly,  and  made  what  I  judged  to  be  remarks  about 
my  personal  appearance.  So  at  another  convenient 
opportunity  I  let  off  another  shot,  which  was  a  worse 
fizzle  than  the  first.  One  old  fellow  whose  back  was 
glistening  with  sweat  turned  and  winked  at  me,  and 
another  pretended  to  hunt  for  imaginary  wounds. 

Recognizing  that  I  was  an  ignominious  failure  in 
the  public  works  department,  I  left  it  to  manage  itself 
and  strolled  over  to  add  my  inexperience  and  igno- 
rance to  the  sluicing  agency. 

Mrs.  L had  anticipated  me  and  was  already 

advising  the  willing  workers  when  I  appeared.  On 
the  whole,  they  were  pretty  patient  about  it  all,  and 


MY  GOLD-HUNTING  EXPEDITION       215 

let  us  ask  innumerable  questions  and  make  suggestions 
(which,  however,  they  never  observed)  ad  libitum. 

But  however  little  I  knew  about  gold-mining,  I  have 
shared  one  thing  with  the  real  prospector  —  the  eager, 
fascinated,  breathless  suspense  of  staring  into  a  fold 
of  blanket  for  "color."  When  we  really  saw  a  vagrant 
glint  here  and  there,  what  delight !  —  delight  easily 

quenched  by  Mr.  L ,  however,  who  declared  the 

yield  too  small  for  a  paying  basis. 

All  that  hot  summer  day,  we  dug  and  washed  and 
watched,  but  with  unsatisfactory  results.  In  the  long- 
shadowed  afternoon  we  packed  traps  and  set  off  down 
the  valley.  The  egrets,  camping  by  dozens  on  feeding 
carabao,  flapped  away  as  we  approached;  we  found 
our  baroto  as  we  had  left  it,  rising  gently  on  the  in- 
coming tide  in  the  shade  of  a  clump  of  bamboo. 

The  homeward  journey,  if  not  one  of  resignation  to 
the  will  of  Providence,  had  its  compensation  in  the 
loveliness  of  afternoon  lights  and  the  cool,  peaceful 
silence  of  the  forests.  We  avoided  the  insidious  snares 
of  kut-i-kut,  but  found  our  lagoon  just  bestowed  for 
the  night,  snug,  glassy,  with  the  dusk  creeping  on  and 
on.  Thence  we  passed  into  the  open  sea,  were  cradled 
gently  into  our  own  bay,  and  saw  the  coastguard  sta- 
tion at  the  inlet  send  ruddy  gleams  across  the  water, 
beneath  the  lowering  form  of  the  hill.  Once  in  the 
river,  we  fairly  flew  along,  bathed  in  moonlight.  We 
neared  home,  heard  bands  playing  in  the  distance,  and, 
with  sudden  remembrance  that  it  was  a  native  fiesta, 
turned  the  bend  and  saw  a  fairy  city  aglow  with  lan- 
terns, where  eighteen  hours  before  had  been  silence 


216     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

and  stealth.  All  the  craft  in  the  river  were  hung  with 
multicolored  lights,  and  the  people  were  out  prome- 
nading, while  a  crowd  of  school  children,  sitting  on  the 
river  bank,  were  singing  "Old  Kentucky  Home"  in 
four  parts. 

It  was  a  happy  day,  one  of  those  photographic  ex- 
periences to  be  treasured  forever,  but  the  dream  of 
yachts  and  country  houses  never  has  become  a  reality. 
If  an  energetic  prospector  wishes  to  try,  he  will  find 
in  a  cleft  between  two  tall  mountains  an  abandoned 
shaft  and  the  remains  of  a  dam  spanning  a  mountain 
stream.  But  let  him  not  taste  of  the  babbling  water. 
I  did,  and  put  in  six  weeks  of  illness  therefor. 


CHAPTER  SEVENTEEN 

AN  UNPLEASANT  VACATION 

The  Inspector's  Nightly  Bonfires  —  Our  Vacation  in 
Manila  and  in  Quarantine  —  After  our  Return  to 
Capiz  Cholera  breaks  out  —  Record  of  our  Experi- 
ences DURING  THE   EPIDEMIC. 

SCHOOL  closed  in  March,  and  Miss  C and 
I  decided  to  spend  our  vacation  in  Manila.  We 
were  to  leave  Capiz  on  the  small  army  trans- 
port Indianapolis  and  go  to  Iloilo,  thence  by  the 
Compania  Maritima's  boat  to  Manila. 

The  Indianapolis  was  carrying  an  inspector  around 
the  island,  which  gave  us  a  four  days'  trip  to  Iloilo. 
The  sea  was  perfectly  smooth  and  the  nights  brilliant 
moonlight.  We  ran  from  town  to  town  wherever  a 
military  detachment  was  stationed,  and  the  inspector 
went  ashore  and  inspected.  This  rite  usually  culminated 
in  a  huge  bonfire  on  the  beach,  in  which  old  stoves, 
chairs,  harnesses,  bath  towels,  and  typewriters  were  in- 
discriminately heaped.  I  remarked  once  with  civilian 
density  that  this  seemed  a  most  extravagant  custom. 
If  the  army  did  not  want  these  things  longer,  why 
not  let  them  fall  into  the  hands  of  others  who  could 
patch  them  up  and  make  use  of  them?  The  captain 
of  the  transport  explained  to  me  that  all  condemned 
articles  must  be  irretrievably  destroyed  to  prevent 


218     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

fraud  in  subsequent  quartermasters'  accounts.  For 
example,  if  a  quartermaster  has  a  condemned  stove 
which  is  not  destroyed,  he  can  sell  a  perfectly  new 
stove,  and  on  the  next  visit  of  the  inspector  present 
again  the  condemned  article  to  be  recondemned,  and 
continue  to  follow  this  practice  till  he  has  robbed  the 
Government  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars.  Of 
course  it  was  plain  enough  after  the  explanation,  and 
I  wondered  at  my  stupidity. 

Our  four  days'  trip  around  the  island  was  uneventful 
save  for  the  nightly  bonfires  of  the  inspector.  Once  at 
San  Joaquin  a  fine  military  band  came  down  to  the 
beach  and  played  for  an  hour  in  the  silver  moonlight. 
I  enjoyed  immensely  the  music,  the  bonfire  (which  was 
burning  enthusiastically),  the  wonderful  light,  the 
tranquil  expanse  of  the  China  Sea,  and  the  delicate 
spire  of  the  village  church,  rising  in  the  ethereal  dis- 
tance from  glinting  palm  fronds.  Nothing  is  more 
beautiful  than  the  glisten  of  moonlight  on  palms. 

Arrived  at  Iloilo,  I  was  taken  ill  almost  immediately 
with  the  prevailing  tropical  evil,  dysentery,  presum- 
ably the  result  of  drinking  spring  water  on  the  gold 
hunt.  At  the  same  time  there  came  down  the  report 
that  cholera  was  epidemic  in  Manila.  Nevertheless, 
when  I  was  able  to  travel,  to  Manila  I  went,  and  there 
loathed  myself,  for  it  was  blistering  hot.  I  was  staying 
at  a  hotel  in  the  Walled  City,  and  the  great  yellow 
placards  announcing  cholera  were  to  be  found  on 
houses  of  almost  all  streets  in  the  vicinity.  But  when 
I  was  ready  to  leave,  the  full  evil  of  a  cholera  epi- 
demic made  itself  apparent.    There  was  no  getting  out 


AN    UNPLEASANT   VACATION  219 

of  Manila  without  putting  in  five  days'  quarantine  in 
the  bay. 

We  went  aboard  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  May.  The 
steamer  pulled  out  into  the  bay  and  dropped  anchor. 
We  were  paying  five  pesos  a  day  subsistence  during 
this  detention,  and  yet  we  were  supplied  with  no  ice 
and  no  fresh  meat.  We  consumed  the  inevitable  goat, 
chicken,  and  garbanzos,  the  cheese,  bananas,  and  guava 
jelly,  and  the  same  lukewarm  coffee  and  lady-fingers  for 
breakfast.  Owing  to  the  heat,  and  the  lack  of  fans, 
the  staterooms  were  practically  impossible,  and  every- 
body slept  on  deck  either  on  a  steamer  chair  or  on  an 
army  cot.  The  men  took  one  side  of  the  deck,  and  the 
women  the  other.  By  day  we  yawned,  slept,  read,  per- 
spired, and  looked  longingly  out  at  Manila  dozing  in 
the  heat  haze.  There  were  several  Englishmen  aboard, 
and  they  were  supplied  with  a  spirit  kettle,  a  package 
of  tea,  some  tins  of  biscuits,  and  an  apparently  inex- 
haustible supply  of  Cadbury's  sweets,  which  they  dis- 
pensed generously  every  afternoon.  They  had  also  a 
ping-pong  outfit,  and  played. 

Every  day  the  doctor's  launch  came  out  to  see  that 
none  of  us  had  escaped  or  developed  cholera,  and  it 
brought  us  mail.  Decoration  Day  was  heralded  by 
the  big  guns  from  Fort  Santiago  and  the  fleet  at  Cavite, 
and  as  I  recalled  all  the  other  Decoration  Days  of  my 
memory,  the  unnaturalness  of  a  Decoration  Day  in  the 
Philippines  became  more  and  more  apparent. 

Our  quarantine  was  up  on  Sunday  morning,  but  at 
the  eleventh  hour  it  was  noised  about  that  we  should 
not  leave,  because  a  lorcha  which  we  had  to  tow  had 


220     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

failed  to  get  her  clearance  papers.  Our  spirits  descended 
into  abysmal  infinity.  We  felt  that  we  could  not  endure 
another  twenty-four  hours  of  inaction. 

The  lorcha  was  a  dismasted  hull,  no  more,  with  a  Fili- 
pino family  and  one  or  two  men  aboard  to  steer. 
We  had  a  Scotch  engineer  who  might  have  been  the 
original  of  Kipling's  McFee.  I  spoke  to  him  about  the 
rumor  as  he  leaned  over  the  side  staring  at  the  lorcha, 
and  he  gave  vent  to  his  feelings  in  a  description  of  the 
general  appearance  of  the  lorcha  in  language  too  tech- 
nically nautical  for  me  to  transcribe.  At  the  end  he 
waxed  mildly  profane,  and  threatened  to  "pull  the 
dom  nose  out  of  her"  when  once  he  got  her  outside  of 
Corregidor. 

The  rumor  proved  a  canard,  however,  and  we  lined 
up  at  eleven  o'clock,  while  the  doctor  counted  us  to 
see  that  we  were  all  alive  and  well.  Then  up  anchor 
and  away,  with  the  breeze  born  of  motion  cooling  off 
the  ship. 

The  engineer  was  not  able  to  keep  his  dire  threat 
about  the  lorcha's  nose,  but  it  is  only  just  to  say  that 
he  tried  to.  We  met  a  heavy  sea  outside  of  Corregidor, 
and  never  have  I  seen  anything  more  dizzy  and 
drunken  and  pathetic  than  the  rolls  and  heaves  of  the 
lorcha. 

At  Iloilo  we  met  the  army  transport  McClellan,  and 
continued  our  voyage  upon  her  to  Capiz.  We  bade 
farewell  to  her  with  regret,  and  consumed  in  an  antici- 
patory passion  of  renunciation  our  last  meal  with  ice 
water,  fresh  butter,  and  fresh  beef.  The  McClellan 
took  away  the  troops  of  the  Sixth  Infantry  and  the 


MORTUARY   CHAPEL   IN   PACO   CEMETERY,  MANILA 


AN    UNPLEASANT   VACATION  221 

Tenth  Cavalry,  and  left  us,  in  their  stead,  a  detach- 
ment of  the  Ninth  Cavalry,  which  remained  perhaps 
two  months,  and  was  then  stationed  at  Iloilo,  leaving 
us  with  nothing  but  a  troop  of  native  voluntarios,  or 
scouts,  officered  by  Americans,  and  a  small  detach- 
ment of  native  constabulary.  We  had  barely  ac- 
customed ourselves  to  this,  and  ceased  to  predict 
insurrection  and  massacre,  when  the  cholera,  which 
we  had  hoped  to  avoid,  descended  upon  us. 

I  am  sorry  that  I  can  relate  no  deeds  of  personal 
heroism  or  of  self-sacrifice  in  the  epidemic.  There 
did  n't  seem  to  be  any  place  for  them,  and  I  am  not  cer- 
tain that  I  knew  how  to  be  heroic  and  self-sacrificing. 
I  was  not,  however,  so  nervous  about  the  cholera  as 
some  Americans  were,  and  I  like  to  convince  myself  that 
if  any  of  my  friends  had  sickened  with  it  and  needed 
me,  I  should  have  gone  unhesitatingly  and  nursed 
them.  Fortunately  (or  unfortunately  for  the  proof  of 
my  valor)  this  was  not  the  case.  The  scourge  stayed 
with  us  between  two  and  three  months.  The  highest 
mortality  was  between  a  hundred  and  a  hundred  and 
fifty  deaths  a  day,  and  by  its  ravages  Capiz  was  reduced 
from  a  first-class  city  of  twenty-five  thousand  inhabit- 
ants to  a  second-class  city  of  less  than  twenty  thousand. 
I  kept  a  brief  record,  however,  of  our  experiences 
during  that  time,  and  once  again,  by  permission  of  The 
Times,  insert  them  here. 

September  8.    Miss  P ,  Dr.  B ,  and  I  were 

out  for  a  long  walk  this  afternoon.    They  left  me  at 

my  door  just  as  Mrs.  L and  Mrs.  T drove  up 

in  the  latter's  victoria.    Both  ladies  were  much  excited 


222     IMPRESSIONS   OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

by  the  news  that  a  parao  had  landed  at  the  playa  with 
one  dead  man  and  a  case  of  cholera  still  living.  The 
other  people  of  the  parao  had  scattered  before  the 
health  officers  got  hold  of  the  matter. 

September  9.  The  story  about  the  parao  has  been 
confirmed.  We  had  hoped  to  escape  the  epidemic, 
but  are  in  for  it  now,  for  certain. 

September  10.    It  is  rumored  that  two  cases  of  cholera 

developed  yesterday.    Dr.  B denies  it,  says  they 

are  nothing  but  acute  dysentery.     Dr.  S thinks 

they  are  cholera. 

September  11.  Whatever  this  illness  be,  it  kills  people 
in  a  very  short  time.  A  little  public-school  boy  was 
taken  sick  last  night,  and  died  in  three  or  four  hours. 
Natives  are  terribly  frightened,  and  we  Americans  are 
far  from  comfortable. 

September  12.    Several  more  deaths.    Dr.  S says 

cholera.  Dr.  B says  if  there  has  been  a  case  of  chol- 
era in  town  he  will  eat  his  hat.  They  are  making  every 
effort  to  find  out  what  it  is,  but  the  bacillus  is  shy,  and 
refuses  to  respond  to  the  searchings  of  the  microscope. 

September  13.    Cholera  increasing.     Dr.  B has 

given  in  at  last.  A  scout  died,  and  they  made  an  exam- 
ination of  the  stomach  and  bowels.    Found  the  bacillus. 

Dr.  B says  if  I  will  come  around  to  the  hospital,  he 

will  show  me  one. 

September  1J^._  Have  seen  the  comma  bacillus.  It  is 
certainly  an  insignificant  microbe  to  be  raising  so 
much  trouble.  Got  hold  of  a  report  from  the  Board  of 
Health,  saying  that,  if  the  epidemic  grew  worse,  the 
public  school  buildings  should  be  converted  into  hos- 


AN   UNPLEASANT   VACATION  223 

pitals.  Took  it  over  to  the  Deputy  Division  Superin- 
tendent to  protest.  Schoolhouses  are  scarce  here. 
Cannot  afford  to  infect  them. 

September  15.  The  schools  are  closed  to-day,  the 
number  of  deaths  having  passed  ten  per  diem.  As  I 
am  the  only  householder,  the  other  teachers  are  to 
have  their  meals  with  me  till  the  epidemic  is  over. 

September  16.  The  house  smells  to  high  heaven! 
The  provincial  Supervisor  came  in  this  morning  with  a 
quart  of  crude  carbolic  acid,  about  half  a  bushel  of  chlo- 
ride of  lime,  and  a  lot  of  camphor.  I  immediately  put 
the  camphor  in  my  trunks,  having  wanted  some  for 
quite  a  little  time,  and  devoted  the  rest  of  the  stuff  to 
its  proper  uses.  Put  the  lime  over  the  stone  flagging 
below,  with  a  large  heap  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs,  so  that 
everybody  coming  in  must  walk  through  it.  The  floors 
and  stairs  are  frightfully  tramped  up.  Ciriaco,  much  to 
his  disgust,  had  to  wash  off  all  the  furniture  with  agua 
finecada  (diluted  carbolic  acid).  Bought  a  new  kettle 
in  which  to  boil  the  drinking-water.  Bought  yards  and 
yards  of  new  tea  towelling,  and  gave  orders  that,  after 
being  once  used,  the  dish  towel  is  to  be  boiled  before 
using  again. 

September  18.    Dr.  S says  get  nothing  out  of  the 

market.     Dr.   B says  he  eats  cucumbers  three 

times  a  day.  What  the  doctor  can  risk  surely  the  lay- 
man can  chance.  I  buy  cucumbers  still.  On  being 
brought  into  the  house  they  are  washed  in  diluted  car- 
bolic acid,  and  rinsed  in  boiled  rain  water.  Then  the 
servant  washes  her  hands  in  bichloride  solution,  peels 
the  cucumber,  slices  it  and  lets  it  stand  in  vinegar  till 


224     IMPRESSIONS   OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

meal  time.    Dr.  V says  the  vinegar  is  sure  death 

to  the  shy  bacillus. 

September  19.  All  the  change  is  deposited  in  agua 
finecada  when  the  servant  comes  in  from  market. 
What  could  we  do  without  cucumbers  ?  How  weary  we 
are  of  the  canned  stuff  from  the  commissary !    It  is 

rumored  that  Dr.  S and  wife  will  not  eat  butter, 

because  it  must  stand  too  long.    Mrs.  S bakes  her 

own  bread,  and,  it  is  reported,  locks  her  cook  up  at 
night  for  fear  he  may  escape  and  visit  among  his  kin- 
dred. He  is  not  allowed  to  leave  the  premises  by 
day. 

Miss  P tells  me  that  at  Mrs.  T 's  the  visitor 

is  requested  to  scrape  his  feet  in  the  chloride  of  lime  at 
the  foot  of  the  stairs,  and,  on  arriving  at  the  top,  is 
presented  with  a  bowl  of  agua  finecada,  wherein  to  wash 
his  hands.  The  towel  has  been  boiled,  and,  of  course,  a 
fresh  one  is  provided  for  each  person.  This  is  not  so 
extravagant  as  it  sounds.  We  Americans  are  few  in 
number,  and  do  but  little  visiting  these  days. 

October  3.  Saw  four  cholera  patients  carried  past 
to-day.  The  new  cholera  hospital  is  now  open,  and  a 
credit  to  the  town.  Deaths  average  about  fifty  per 
day.  The  town  is  unutterably  sad.  Houses  are  closed 
at  dusk,  and  not  a  gleam  of  light  shines  forth  where 
there  used  to  issue  laughter  and  song.  The  church, 
which  used  to  resemble  a  kaleidoscope  with  the  bright- 
hued  raiment  of  the  women,  is  now  filled  with  kneeling 
figures  in  black.  So  far,  the  sickness  has  not  touched  the 
principales.  Only  the  poor  people  are  dying.  There  is 
a  San  Roque  procession  every  night.    Fifty  or  a  hun- 


AN   UNPLEASANT   VACATION  225 

dred  natives  get  a  lot  of  transparencies  and  parade  in 
front  of  the  altars  of  the  Virgin  and  San  Roque.  A 
detachment  of  the  church  choir  accompanies,  cater- 
wauling abominably.  It  is  all  weird  and  barbaric  and 
revolting  —  especially  the  "principal"  in  a  dress  suit, 
who  pays  the  expenses,  and,  with  a  candle  three  feet 
long,  paces  between  the  two  altars.  I  always  set  three 
or  four  candles  in  my  windows,  which  seems  to  please 
the  people. 

October  6.    Mr.  S ,  being  a  member  of  the  Board 

of  Health,  has  been  engaged  in  inspecting  wells.  The 
natives  are  now  saying  that  he  poisoned  them.  He  is 
indignant,  and  we  are  all  a  little  uneasy.  We  are  a 
handful  of  Americans  —  fifteen  at  the  most.  We  have 
little  confidence  in  the  native  scouts,  though  their 
officers  insist  on  their  loyalty.  We  are  twenty-four 
hours  from  Iloilo  by  steamer,  and  forty-eight  from 
Manila,  and  are  without  a  launch  at  this  port.  In  case 
of  violent  animosity  against  us,  the  situation  might 
become  serious. 

October  7.    At  dinner  last  night,  Mr.  S said  there 

had   been   an   anti-American   demonstration   in   the 
market,  and  that  a  scout  had  cried,  "  Abajo  los  Ameri-| 
canos!"     That  settled  me.     I  lost  my  nerve  com- \ 

pletely,  and  went  up  and  asked  Dr.  and  Mrs.  S to 

let  me  spend  the  night  at  their  house.  They  were  lovely 
about  it,  and  salved  over  my  mortification  by  saying 
that  they  wondered  how  I  had  been  able  to  stand  it  so 
long,  alone  in  the  native  quarter.  Slept  badly  in  the 
strange  house,  and  am  afraid  I  gave  much  trouble. 

October  8.     Got  some  command  of  my  nerves  last 

15 


226     IMPRESSIONS    OF    THE   PHILIPPINES 

night,  and  stayed  at  home,  though  I  asked  the  officer 
commanding  the  constabulary  for  a  guard.  He  was 
most  accommodating  and  outwardly  civil,  though  it 
was  apparent  he  thought  I  was  making  a  goose  of  my- 
self. The  guard  came,  in  all  the  glory  of  khaki,  red- 
shoulder-straps,  45-calibre  revolver,  and  rifle  —  don't 
know  whether  it  was  a  Krag  or  a  Springfield.  At  any 
rate,  he  was  most  imposing,  and,  as  he  unrolled  his 
petate  on  the  dining-room  floor,  assured  me  in  broken 
Spanish  that  he  would  protect  me  to  the  last.  I 
bolted  my  door  and  went  to  bed.  Slept  wretchedly, 
being,  it  must  be  confessed,  about  as  much  afraid  of 
the  guard  as  of  the  possible  anti-Americanos. 

October  9.  Last  night,  decided  that  I  had  yielded  to 
my  nerves  long  enough.  Stayed  at  home,  and  did  n't 
ask  for  a  guard  either.  Being  much  exhausted  by  two 
nights  of  wakefulness,  slept  soundly  all  night.  To-day 
the  world  looks  bright  and  fresh,  and  my  late  terrors 
inexplicable. 

October  12.    Poor  M has  the  cholera.    His  duties 

as  a  road  overseer  have  taken  him  into  the  province,  and 
he  has  been  forced  to  eat  native  food.  He  got  a  bottle  of 
chlorodyne  and  seemed  to  feel  that  it  would  save  him. 

But  to-day  he  is  down.    Mr.  S brought  the  news 

when  he  came  by  to  take  me  for  an  afternoon  walk. 
He  met  the  inspector  and  the  padre,  coming  from 

M 's  house.    Extreme  unction  had  been  given  him 

and  all  hope  of  recovery  was  gone,  though  both  Ameri- 
can physicians  had  been  with  him  all  day  and  were 
making  every  effort  to  save  him.  He  asked  for  Mr. 
S ,  so  the  latter  left  me  to  go  to  his  bedside. 


AN   UNPLEASANT   VACATION  227 

At  seven  o'clock  Mr.  S went  by  in  the  dusk,  and 

called  to  me  from  the  street  to  send  his  dinner  up  to 

his  house.     Poor  M had  just  died.     Mr.  S 

held  his  hand  to  the  last,  and  was  on  his  way  home  to 
burn  his  shoes  and  clothing  and  to  take  a  bath  in 
bichloride. 

Most  of  the  American  men  went  in  to  see  M .    I 

am  glad  of  it.  It  may  not  be  sanitary,  but  it  is  revolt- 
ing to  think  of  an  American  dying  alone  in  a  Filipino 
hut. 

|f was  buried  to-night.    I  saw  the  funeral  go  by. 

First  came  the  body  in  the  native  coffin,  smeared  with 
quicklime.  The  escort  wagon  loomed  up  behind  in  the 
starlight,  full  of  American  men,  and  then  came  the 

scout  officer  and  his  wife  in  the  spring  wagon.    M 

was  once  a  private  in  the  Eighteenth  Infantry. 

Just  after  this  mournful  little  procession  went  by 
with  its  queer  muffled  noises,  the  big  church  bell 
boomed  ten,  and  the  constabulary  bugles  from  the 
other  end  of  the  town  blew  taps.  The  sound  came 
faintly  clear  on  the  still  night  air,  and  the  tall  cocoanut 
tree  that  I  love  to  watch  from  my  window  drooped  its 
dim  outline  as  if  it  mourned. 

October  15.  The  weather  remains  bright  and  hot  in 
spite  of  our  continual  prayers  for  rain.  The  natives 
say  a  heavy  rain  and  wind  will  "  blow  the  cholera  away." 
The  deaths  have  now  swelled  to  more  than  a  hundred 
a  day,  though  the  disease  remains  largely  among  the 
poor.  Yesterday  I  saw  a  man  stricken  in  the  street. 
He  lay  on  his  back  quite  still,  but  breathing  in  a  horrible 
way.    The  bearers  came  at  last  and  carried  him  away  on 


228     IMPRESSIONS    OF    THE   PHILIPPINES 

a  stretcher.  Two  cases  were  taken  out  of  the  house  next 
door  to  me. 

October  16.  Ceferiana  professed  to  be  ill  this  morn- 
ing, and  I  was  alarmed.    I  dosed  her  with  the  medicine 

which  Dr.  S had  given  me  when  the  epidemic 

first  appeared,  and  sent  for  the  Doctor  himself.  But  I 
discovered,  before  he  came,  that  she  had  gotten  too  close 
a  whiff  of  the  chloride-of-lime  bag,  and  it  nauseated 
her.  She  is  more  afraid  of  the  disinfectants  than  of 
the  disease. 

October  20.  Have  had  to  chastise  Tomas,  and  have 
thus  violated  Governor  Taft's  standards  for  American 
treatment  of  our  brown  friends.    Tomas  is  about  forty 

and  the  father  of  a  small  boy,  and  Mr.  S ,  who 

contemplates  setting  up  a  bachelor's  establishment  when 
the  epidemic  is  over,  fondly  dreams  that  Tomas  em- 
bodies the  essentials  of  a  cook.    So  Mr.  S brought 

Tomas  down,  accompanied  by  his  son,  a  child  of  twelve, 
with  the  request  that  I  train  them  for  him.  I  set  them 
first  to  washing  dishes,  and  had  a  struggle  of  a  week 
or  so's  duration  in  trying  to  adjust  Tomas's  conception 
of  that  labor  to  my  own.  I  particularly  ordered  that  no 
refuse  was  to  be  thrown  in  the  yard  or  under  the  house. 
This  rule  was  violated  several  times,  and  my  patience 
pretty  well  exhausted.  I  stepped  into  the  kitchen  this 
morning  just  in  time  to  see  Tomas  doubling  over,  and 
poking  the  coffee  grounds  down  between  the  bamboo 
slats  of  the  flooring.  The  American  broom  was  handy, 
and  the  angle  of  Tomas's  inclination  was  sufficient  to 
expose  a  large  area  of  resisting  surface.  So  I  promptly 
"  swatted  "  Tomas  with  the  broom  with  such  energy  that 


AN    UNPLEASANT    VACATION  229 

the  coffeepot  flew  up  in  the  air  and  he  tumbled  over 
head  foremost.  His  small  boy  sent  up  a  wail  of  terror; 
and  Billy  Buster,  the  monkey,  who  was  discussing  a 
chicken  bone,  fled  up  to  the  thatch,  where  he  remained 
all  day  until  coaxed  down  by  the  tinkle  of  a  spoon  in  a 
toddy  glass.  Tomas  was  out  of  breath,  but  not  so  much 
so  that  he  could  not  ejaculate,  "Sus !  Maria  Santisima, 
Senorita!"  in  injured  tones.  Ciriaco,  the  cook,  lay 
down  on  the  floor  and  laughed.  Later  I  heard  him  and 
Ceferiana  agreeing  that  I  was  "muy  valiente." 

October  25.    In  spite  of  the  agua  finecada  and  the 

boiled  towel,  Mrs.  T 's  cook  has  developed  cholera. 

Though  I  speak  of  it  lightly,  I  am  truly  sorry  for  them, 

for  Mrs.  T is  exceedingly  nervous,  and  they  have 

a  little  child  to  care  for. 

There  is  a  slight  diminution  in  the  death  rate,  and 
we  begin  to  hope  the  worst  is  over. 

October  28.  The  death  rate  is  still  decreasing.  When 
will  the  rain  come? 

To-day  I  discovered  that  all  the  elaborate  boilings 
of  dish  cloths  and  towels  that  have  been  carried  out 
here  since  the  epidemic  began  have  been  a  mere  farce. 
Every  day  for  a  week  I  went  out  and  superintended 
the  operation  till  I  thought  Ceferiana  had  mastered 
it.  She  had,  indeed,  caught  the  details,  but  quite 
missed  the  idea.  She  found  the  process  of  suspending 
the  dish  towel  on  a  long  stick  till  it  was  cool  enough 
to  wring  out,  a  tedious  one,  so  she  set  her  fertile  brain 
to  work  to  find  an  expedient  in  the  way  of  a  bucket 
of  cool  well  water,  into  which  she  dropped  them. 
Well  water !    All  but  pure  cholera !    We  had  a  hearty 


230    IMPRESSIONS    OF    THE    PHILIPPINES 

laugh  over  it  at  dinner  to-night,  though  Mr.  C 

looked  grave.  His  official  dignity  sits  heavily  upon 
him. 

Tomas  dodges  me  when  he  passes.  I  find  it  impos- 
sible to  restore  his  confidence. 

November  2.  The  rains  have  come,  and  whether 
they  have  anything  to  do  with  it  or  not,  the  epidemic 
is  subsiding.  Two  days  ago,  when  the  first  shower 
broke  after  an  inconceivably  sultry  morning,  the  bearers 
were  passing  with  a  couple  of  cholera  patients  on 
stretchers.  They  were  at  first  minded  to  set  them 
down  in  the  rain,  but  thought  better  of  it,  and  carried 
them  into  my  lower  hall.  The  shower  lasted  only  a  few 
minutes,  and  then  they  went  on  their  way,  and  Ciriaco 
and  I  descended  and  sprinkled  the  floor  all  over  with 
chloride  of  lime.  While  they  were  there,  I  was  ner- 
vously dreading  the  sounds  of  the  great  suffering  which 
accompanies  cholera.    But  the  patients  were  very  quiet. 

To-night  at  dinner  Mr.  C tasted  his  coffee  and 

looked  suspicious.  In  my  capacity  of  boarding-house 
keeper,  I  was  instantly  alarmed  and  tasted  mine.  It 
seemed  to  have  been  made  with  aqua  finecada.    Miss 

P said  plaintively  that  she  had  as  lief  die  of 

cholera  as  of  carbolic  acid  poison.  Neither  Ciriaco  nor 
Ceferiana  could  explain.  They  conceded  that  the 
aqua  finecada  was  there,  but  could  not  say  how. 
They  were  not  much  concerned,  and  seemed  to  regard 
it  as  a  pleasing  sleight-of-hand  performance  on  their 
part. 

November  5.  Only  eighteen  deaths  to-day!  If  the 
decrease  continue  steady,  we  shall  open  school  in  a 


AN    UNPLEASANT   VACATION  231 

few  days.  It  will  be  a  relief  after  the  long  tension  of 
these  two  months  —  for  it  was  a  tension  in  spite  of 
our  refusal  to  discuss  its  more  serious  aspects.  We 
have  taken  all  legitimate  precautions,  and  laughed 
at  each  other's  oddities,  knowing  that  it  is  better  to 
laugh  than  to  cry.    But  had  sickness  come  to  any  of 

us  as  in  the  case  of  poor  M ,  everybody  stood 

ready  to  chance  all  things  to  aid.  But  we  come  out 
unscathed  with  the  exception  of  that  one  poor  fellow. 

November  14.  School  will  begin  to-morrow !  Have 
had  to  discharge  Tomas.  He  went  to  Baliwagan,  a 
barrio  where  the  cholera  is  still  raging,  last  night,  and 
Mr.  S was  properly  incensed.  As  a  parting  bene- 
diction, Tomas  stole  a  lamp  of  mine,  but  I  have  n't 
the  energy  to  go  after  him.  Besides,  I  have  a  guilty 
conscience,  and  if  Tomas  feels  our  account  is  square, 
I  am  willing  to  accept  his  terms. 

November  15.  Began  work  again  to-day.  The  school 
is  much  fallen  off.  Many  pupils  are  dead,  and  the  rest 
have  lost  relatives.  It  is  a  gloomy  school,  but  the 
worst  is  over. 


CHAPTER  EIGHTEEN 

THE   ARISTOCRACY,   THE    POOR,    AND   AMERICAN   WOMEN 

Aristocracy  and  "  Caciquism  "  in  the  Philippines  —  Poverty 
of  the  Filipino  Poor  —  Happiness  in  Spite  of  Poverty  — 
Virtual  Slavery  of  the  Rustics  —  Their  Loyalty  to 
their  Employers  —  Wages  in  Manila  and  in  the  Prov- 
inces —  Many  Resources  possessed  by  the  Upper  Classes 
—  Chaffering  for  all  Kinds  of  Troduce  —  Happiness 
within  the  Reach  of  American  Women  if  employed  — 
American  Women  Safe  in  the  Philippines  —  After  a 
Visit  to  America  I  am  glad  to  return  to  the  Islands. 

TO  an  American  of  analytical  tendencies  a  few 
years  in  the  Philippines  present  not  only  an 
interesting  study  of  Filipino  life,  but  a  novel 
consciousness  of  our  own.  The  affairs  of  these  people 
are  so  simple  where  ours  are  complex,  so  complex 
where  ours  are  simple,  that  one's  angle  of  view  is 
considerably  enlarged. 

The  general  construction  of  society  is  mediaeval  and 
aristocratic.  The  aristocracy,  with  the  exception  of 
a  few  wealthy  brewers  and  cigar  manufacturers  of 
Manila,  is  a  land-holding  one.  There  is  practically  no  , 
bourgeoisie  —  no  commercial  class  —  between  the  rich  \ 
and  the  poor.  In  Manila  and  all  the  large  coast  towns 
trade  is  largely  in  the  hands  of  foreigners,  chiefly 
Chinese,  some  few  of  whom  have  become  converted 
to  the  Catholic  faith,  and  establish^ y  themselves  per- 


THE  ARISTOCRACY  AND    THE  POOR      233 

manently  in  the  country;  all  of  whom  have  found 
Filipino  helpmates,  either  with  or  without  the  sanction 
of  the  Church,  and  have  added  their  contingent  of  half- 
breeds,  or  mestizos,  to  the  population. 

The  land-owning  aristocracy,  though  it  must  have 
been  in  possession  of  its  advantages  for  several  genera- 
tions, seems  deficient  in  jealous  exclusiveness  on  the 
score  of  birth.  I  do  not  remember  to  have  heard  once 
here  the  expression  "of  good  family,"  as  we  hear  it 
in  America,  and  especially  in  the  South.  But  I  have 
heard  "He  is  a  rich  man"  so  used  as  to  indicate  that 
this  good  fortune  carried  with  it  unquestioned  social 
prerogative.  Yet  there  must  be  some  clannishness  . 
based  upon  birth,  for  your  true  Filipino  never  repudiates 
his  poor  relations  or  apologizes  for  them.  At  every 
social  function  there  is  a  crowd  of  them  in  all  stages  •* 
of  modest  apparel,  and  with  manners  born  of  social 
obscurity,  asserting  their  right  to  be  considered  among 
the  elect.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  Filipinos  con- 
cern themselves  with  the  present  rather  than  the  past, 
and  that  the  parvenu  finds  it  even  easier  to  win  his 
way  with  them  than  with  us.  Even  under  Spanish  , 
rule  poor  men  had  a  chance,  and  sometimes  rose  to 
the  top.  I  remember  the  case,  in  particular,  of  one 
family  which  claimed  and  held  social  leadership  in 
Capiz.  Its  head  was  a  long-headed,  cautious,  shrewd  j 
old  fellow,  with  so  many  Yankee  traits  that  I  some- 
times almost  forgot,  and  addressed  him  in  English. 
My  landlady,  who  was  an  heiress  in  her  own  right, 
and  the  last  of  a  family  of  former  repute,  told  me  that 
the  old  financier  came  to  Capiz  "poor  as  wood."    She 


234     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

did  not  use  that  homely  simile,  however,  but  the 
typical  Filipino  statement  that  his  pantaloons  were 
torn.  She  took  me  behind  a  door  to  tell  me,  and 
imparted  the  information  in  a  whisper,  as  if  she  were 
afraid  of  condign  punishment  if  overheard. 

" Money  talks''  in  the  Philippines  just  as  blatantly 

'  as  it  does  in  the  United  States.  In  addition  to  the 
social  halo  imparted  by  its  possession,  there  is  a  con- 
dition grown  out  of  it,  known  locally  as  "caciquism." 
Caciquism  is  the  social  and  political  prestige  exercised 
by  a  local  man  or  family.  There  are  examples  in 
America,  where  every  village  owns  its  leading  citizen's 
and  its  leading  citizen's  wife's  influence.  Booth 
Tarkington  has  pictured  an  American  cacique  in  "The 
Conquest  of  Canaan."  Judge  Pike  is  a  cacique.  His 
power,  however,  is  vested  in  his  capacity  to  deceive 
his  fellowmen,  in  the  American's  natural  love  for  what 
he  regards  as  an  eminent  personality,  and  his  clinging 
to  an  ideal. 

A  Filipino  cacique  is  quite  a  different  being.  He 
owes  his  prestige  to  fear  —  material  fear  of  the  conse- 
quences which  his  wealth  and  power  can  bring  down 
on  those  that  cross  him.  He  does  not  have  to  play  a 
hypocritical  role.  He  need  neither  assume  to  be,  nor 
be,  a  saint  in  his  private  or  public  life.  He  must 
simply  be  in  control  of  enough  resources  to  attach  to 
him  a  large  body  of  relatives  and  friends  whose  financial 

I  interests  are  tied  up  with  his.  Under  the  Spanish 
regime  he  had  to  stand  in  by  bribery  with  the  local 
governor.  Under  the  American  regime,  with  its  illu- 
sions of  democracy,  he  simply  points  to  his  clientele 


THE  ARISTOCRACY  AND    THE  POOR      235 

and  puts  forward  the  plea  that  he  is  the  natural  voice 
of  the  people.  The  American  Government,  helpless 
in  its  great  ignorance  of  people,  language,  and  customs, 
is  eager  to  find  the  people's  voice,  and  probably  takes 
him  at  his  word.  Fortified  by  Government  backing, 
he  starts  in  to  run  his  province  independently  of  law 
or  justice,  and  succeeds  in  doing  so.  There  are  no 
newspapers,  there  is  no  real  knowledge  among  the 
people  of  what  popular  rights  consist  in,  and  no  idea 
with  which  to  combat  his  usurpations.  The  men 
whom  he  squeezes  howl,  but  not  over  the  principle. 
They  simply  wait  the  day  of  revolution.  Even  where 
there  is  a  real  public  sentiment  which  condemns  the 
tyrant,  it  is  half  the  time  afraid  to  assert  itself,  for  the 
tyrant's  first  defence  is  that  they  oppose  him  because 
he  is  a  friend  of  the  American  Government.  Local 
justice  of  the  peace  courts  are  simply  farcical,  and 
most  of  the  cacique's  violations  of  right  keep  him  clear 
at  least  of  the  courts  of  first  instance,  where  the  judici- 
ary, Filipino  or  American,  is  reliable.  Thus  our  Gov- 
ernment, in  its  first  attempts  to  introduce  democratic 
institutions,  finds  itself  struggling  with  the  very  worst 
evil  of  democracy  long  before  it  can  make  the  virtues 
apparent. 

The  poor  people  among  the  Filipinos  live  in  a  poverty, 
a  misery,  and  a  happiness  inconceivable  to  our  people 
who  have  not  seen  it.  Their  poverty  is  real  —  not 
only  relative.  Their  houses  are  barely  a  covering  from 
rain  or  sun.  A  single  rude  bamboo  bedstead  and  a 
stool  or  two  constitute  their  furniture.  There  is  an 
earthen  water  jar,  another  earthen  pot  for  cooking 


236     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

rice,  a  bolo  for  cutting,  one  or  two  wooden  spoons,  and 
a  cup  made  of  cocoanut  shells.  The  stove  consists  of 
three  stones  laid  under  the  house,  or  back  of  it,  where 
a  rice-pot  may  be  balanced  over  the  fire  laid  between. 
There  are  no  tables,  no  linen,  no  dishes,  no  towels. 
The  family  eat  with  their  fingers  while  sitting  about 
on  the  ground  with  some  broken  banana  leaves  for 
plates.  Coffee,  tea,  and  chocolate  are  unknown  luxu- 
ries to  them.  Fish  and  rice,  with  lumps  of  salt  and 
^sometimes  a  bit  of  fruit,  constitute  their  only  diet.  In 
the  babies  this  mass  of  undigested  half-cooked  rice 
remains  in  the  abdomen  and  produces  what  is  called 
"rice  belly."  In  the  adults  it  brings  beriberi,  from 
which  they  die  quickly.  They  suffer  from  boils  and 
impure  blood  and  many  skin  diseases.  Consumption 
is  rife,  and  rheumatism  attacks  old  and  young  alike. 
They  are  tormented  by  gnats  and  mosquitoes,  and 
frequently  to  rid  themselves  of  the  pests  build  fires 
under  the  house  and  sleep  away  the  hot  tropical  night 
in  the  smoke.  While  the  upper  classes  are  abstemious, 
the  lower  orders  drink  much  of  the  native  vino,  which 
is  made  from  the  sap  of  cocoanut  and  nipa  trees,  and 
^^the  men  are  often  brutal  to  women  and  children. 

I  think  the  most  hopeful  person  must  admit  that 
this  is  an  enumeration  of  real  and  not  fancied  evils, 
that  the  old  saw  about  happiness  and  prosperity  being 
relative  terms  is  not  applicable.  The  Filipino  laborer 
is  still  far  below  even  the  lowest  step  of  the  relative 
degree  of  prosperity  and  happiness.  Yet  in  spite  of 
these  ills  he  is  happy  because  he  has  not  developed 
enough  to  achieve  either  self-pity  or  self-analysis.    He 


THE  ARISTOCRACY  AND'  THE  POOR      237 

bears  his  pain,  when  it  comes,  as  a  dumb  animal 
does,  and  forgets  it  as  quickly  when  it  goes.  When 
the  hour  of  death  descends,  he  meets  it  stoically, 
partly  because  physical  pain  dulls  his  senses,  partly 
because  the  instinct  of  fatalism  is  there  in  spite  of  his 
Catholicism. 

Of  course  this  poverty-stricken  condition  is  largely 
his  own  fault.  He  has  apparently  an  ineradicable  re- 
pugnance to  continued  labor.  He  does  not  look  for- 
ward to  the  future.  Fathers  and  mothers  will  sit  the 
whole  day  playing  the  guitar  and  singing  or  talking, 
after  the  fashion  of  the  country,  with  not  a  bite  of 
food  in  the  house.  When  their  own  desires  begin  to 
reinforce  the  clamors  of  the  children,  they  will  start 
out  at  the  eleventh  hour  to  find  an  errand  or  an  odd 
bit  of  work. '  There  may  be  a  single  squash  on  the  roof 
vine  waiting  to  be  plucked  and  to  yield  its  few 
centavos,  or  they  can  go  out  to  the  beach  and  dig  a 
few  cents'  worth  of  clams. 

The  more  intelligent  of  the  laboring  class  attach 
themselves  as  cliente  to  the  rich  land-holding  families. 
They  are  by  no  means  slaves  in  law,  but  they  are  in 
fact;  and  they  like  it.  The  men  are  agricultural 
laborers;  the  women,  seamstresses,  house  servants, 
and  wet  nurses,  and  they  also  do  the  beautiful  em- 
broideries, the  hat-plaiting,  the  weaving  of  pifia, 
sinamay,  and  jusi,  and  the  other  local  industries  which 
are  carried  on  by  the  upper  class.  The  poor  them- 
selves have  nothing  to  do  with  commerce;  that  is 
in  the  hands  of  the  well-to-do. 

As  the  children  of  the  clientele  grow  up,  they  are 


238     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

scattered  out  among  the  different  branches  of  the  ruling 
family  as  maids  and  valets.  In  a  well-to-do  Filipino 
family  of  ten  or  twelve  children,  there  will  be  a  child 
servant  for  every  child  in  the  house.  The  little 
servants  are  ill-fed  creatures  (for  the  Filipinos  them- 
selves are  merciless  in  what  they  exact  and  parsimoni- 
ous in  what  they  give),  trained  at  seven  or  eight  years 
of  age  to  look  after  the  room,  the  clothing,  and  to 
be  at  the  beck  and  call  of  another  child,  usually  a 
little  older,  but  ofttimes  younger  than  themselves. 
They  go  to  school  with  their  little  masters  and  mis- 
tresses, carry  their  books,  and  play  with  them.  For 
this  they  receive  the  scantiest  dole  of  food  on  which 
they  can  live,  a  few  cast-off  garments,  and  a  stipend 
of  a  medio-peso  (twenty-five  cents  U.  S.  currency) 
per  annum,  which  their  parents  collect  and  spend. 
Parents  and  child  are  satisfied,  because,  little  as  they 
get,  it  ii^tiTTftriTf^  Pnrmt"  especially  are  satisfied, 
because  thus  do  they  evade  the  duties  and  respon- 
sibilities of  parenthood. 

It  was  at  first  a  source  of  wonder  to  me  how  the  rich 
man  came  out  even  on  his  scores  of  retainers,  owing 
to  their  idleness  and  the  demands  for  fiestas  which  he 
is  compelled  to  grant.  But  he  does  succeed  in  getting 
enough  out  of  them  to  pay  for  the  unhulled  rice  he 
gives  them,  and  he  more  than  evens  up  on  the  children. 
If  ever  there  was  a  land  where  legislation  on  the  sub- 
ject of  child  labor  is  needed,  it  is  here.  Children  are 
overworked  from  infancy.  They  do  much  of  the  work 
of  the  Islands,  and  the  last  drop  of  energy  and  vitality 
is  gone  before  they  reach  manhood  or  womanhood. 


THE  ARISTOCRACY  AND    THE  POOR      239 

Indeed,  the  first  privilege  of  manhood  to  them  is  to 
quit  work. 

The  feeling  between  these  poor  Filipinos  and  their 
so-called  employers  is  just  what  the  feeling  used  to 
be  between  Southerners  and  their  negroes.  The 
lower-class  man  is  proud  of  his  connection  with  the  great 
family.  He  guards  its  secrets  and  is  loyal  to  it.  He 
will  fight  for  it,  if  ordered,  and  desist  when  ordered. 

The  second  house  I  lived  in  in  Capiz  was  smaller 
than  the  first,  and  had  on  the  lower  floor  a  Filipino 
family  in  one  room.  I  demanded  that  they  be  ejected 
if  I  rented  the  house,  but  the  owner  begged  me  to  re- 
consider. They  were,  she  said,  old-time  servants  of 
hers  to  whom  she  felt  it  her  duty  to  give  shelter.  They 
had  always  looked  after  her  house  and  would  look 
after  me. 

I  yielded  to  her  insistence,  but  doubtingly.  In  six 
weeks  I  was  perfectly  convinced  of  her  wisdom  and  my 
foolishness.  Did  it  rain,  Basilio  came  flying  up  to  see 
if  the  roof  leaked.  If  a  window  stuck  and  would  not 
slide,  I  called  Basilio.  For  the  modest  reward  of  two 
pesos  a  month  (one  dollar  gold)  he  skated  my  floors  till 
they  shone  like  mirrors.  He  ran  errands  for  a  penny 
or  two.  His  wife  would  embroider  for  me,  or  wash  a 
garment  if  I  needed  it  in  a  hurry.  If  I  had  an  errand 
which  took  me  out  nights,  Basilio  lit  up  an  old  lantern, 
unsolicited,  and  went  ahead  with  the  light  and  a  bolo. 
If  a  heavy  rain  came  up  when  I  was  at  school,  he 
appeared  with  my  mackintosh  and  rubbers.  And 
while  a  great  many  small  coins  went  from  me  to  him, 
I  could  never  see  that  the  pay  was  proportional  to 


£40     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

I  his  care.  Yet  there  was  no  difficulty  in  comprehend- 
ing it.  Pilar  (my  landlady)  had  told  him  to  take  care 
of  me,  and  he  was  obeying  orders.  If  she  had  told 
him  to  come  up  and  bolo  me  as  I  slept,  he  would  have 
done  it  unhesitatingly. 

The  result  of  American  occupation  has  been  a  rise 
in  the  price  of  agricultural  labor,  and  in  the  city  of 
Manila  in  all  labor.  But  in  the  provinces  the  needle- 
woman, the  weaver,  and  the  house  servant  work  still 
for  inconceivably  small  prices,  while  there  has  been  a 
decided  rise  in  the  price  of  local  manufactures.  Jusi, 
which  cost  three  dollars  gold  a  pattern  in  1901,  now 
costs  six  and  nine  dollars.  Exquisite  embroiderers 
on  pifia,  which  is  thinner  than  bolting  cloth,  have 
quadrupled  their  prices,  but  the  provincial  women 
servants,  who  weave  the  jusi  and  do  the  embroider- 
ing, still  work  for  a  few  cents  a  day  and  two  scanty 
meals. 

When  I  arrived  here  a  seamstress  worked  nine  hours 
a  day  for  twenty  cents  gold  and  her  dinner.  Now  in 
Manila  a  seamstress  working  for  Americans  receives 
fifty  cents  gold  and  sometimes  seventy-five  cents  and 
her  dinner,  though  the  Spanish,  Filipinos,  and  Chinese 
pay  less.  In  the  province  of  Capiz  twelve  and  a  half 
cents  gold  per  day  for  a  seamstress  is  the  recognized 
price  for  an  American  to  pay  —  natives  get  one  for 
less.  A  provincial  Filipino  pays  his  coachman  two 
and  a  half  dollars  gold  a  month,  and  a  cook  one  dollar 
and  a  half.  An  American  for  the  same  labor  must  pay 
from  four  to  eight  dollars  for  the  cook  and  three  to 
six  dollars  for  the  coachman.    As  before  stated,  the 


THE  ARISTOCRACY  AND    THE  POOR     241 

subordinate  servants  in  a  Filipino  house  cost  next 
to  nothing,  because  of  the  utilization  of  child  labor. 

A  provincial  Filipino  can  support  quite  an  establish- 
ment, and  keep  a  carriage  on  an  income  of  forty  dol- 
lars gold  a  month  where  to  an  American  it  would  cost 
sixty  or  eighty  dollars.  This  is  due  partly  to  our  own 
consumption  of  high-priced  tinned  foods,  partly  to 
the  better  price  paid  for  labor,  but  chiefly  to  our  desire 
to  feed  our  servants  into  good  healthy  condition.  We 
not  only  see  that  they  have  more  food,  but  we  look 
more  closely  to  its  variety  and  nutritious  qualities. 
We  employ  adults  and  demand  more  labor,  because 
our  housekeeping  is  more  complex  than  Filipino 
housekeeping,  and  we  expect  to  employ  fewer  servants 
than  Filipinos  do. 

The  Filipinos,  the  Spanish,  and  even  the  English 
who  are  settled  here  cling  to  mediaeval  European  ideas 
in  the  matter  of  service.  If  they  have  any  snobbish 
weakness  for  display,  it  is  in  the  number  of  retainers 
they  can  muster.  Just  as  in  our  country  rural  pros- 
perity is  evinced  by  the  upkeep  of  fences  and  build- 
ings, the  spic  and  span  new  paint,  and  the  garish 
furnishings,  here  it  is  written  in  the  number  of  servants 
and  hangers-on.  The  great  foreign  trading  firms  like 
to  boast  of  the  tremendous  length  of  their  pay  rolls. 
They  would  rather  employ  four  hundred  underworked 
mediocrities  at  twenty  pesos  a  month  than  half  a 
hundred  abilities  at  four  times  that  amount.  The 
land-holders  like  to  think  of  the  mouths  they  are 
responsible  for  feeding  so  very  poorly,  and  the  busy 
housewife   jingles   her   keys   from   weaving-room   to 

16 


242     IMPRESSIONS   OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

embroidery  frame,  from  the  little  tienda  on  the  ground 
floor,  where  she  sells  vino,  cigars,  and  betel-nut,  to  the 
extemporized  bakery  in  the  kitchen,  where  they  are 
making  rice  cakes  and  taffy  candy,  which  an  old  woman 
will  presently  hawk  about  the  streets  for  her. 

One  of  the  curious  things  here  is  the  multiplicity  of 
resource  which  the  rich  classes  possess.  A  rich  land- 
holder will  have  his  rice  fields,  sugar  mill,  vino  factory, 
and  cocoanut  and  hemp  plantations.  He  will  own  a 
fish  corral  or  two,  and  be  one  of  the  backers  of  a  deep- 
sea  fishing  outfit.  He  speculates  a  little  in  rice,  and 
he  may  have  some  interest  in  pearl  fisheries.  On  a  bit 
of  land  not  good  for  much  else  he  has  the  palm  tree, 
which  yields  buri  for  making  mats  and  sugar  bags.  His 
wife  has  a  little  shop,  keeps  several  weavers  at  work, 
and  an  embroidery  woman  or  two.  If  she  goes  on  a 
visit  to  Manila,  the  day  after  her  return  her  servants 
are  abroad,  hawking  novelties  in  the  way  of  fans, 
knick-knacks,  bits  of  lace,  combs,  and  other  things 
which  she  has  picked  up  to  earn  an  honest  penny.  If  a 
steamer  drops  in  with  a  cargo  of  Batangas  oranges,  she 
invests  twenty  or  thirty  pesos,  and  has  her  servants 
about  carrying  the  trays  of  fruit  for  sale.  According 
to  her  lights,  which  are  not  hygienic,  she  is  a  good 
housekeeper  and  a  genuine  helpmeet.  She  keeps 
every  ounce  of  food  under  lock  and  key,  and  measures 
each  crumb  that  is  used  in  cooking.  She  keeps  the 
housekeeping  accounts,  handles  the  money,  never  pries 
into  her  husband's  affairs,  bears  him  a  child  every 
year,  and  is  content,  in  return  for  all  this  devotion, 
with  an  ample  supply  of  pretty  clothes  and  her  jewels. 


THE  ARISTOCRACY  AND    THE  POOR      243 

She  herself  does  not  work,  busy  as  she  is,  and  it  speaks 
well  for  the  faith  and  honor  of  the  Filipino  people  that 
she  can  secure  labor  in  plenty  to  do  all  these  things 
for  her,  to  handle  moneys  and  give  a  faithful  account 
of  them.  It  is  pitiful  to  see  how  little  the  Filipino 
laboring  class  can  do  for  itself,  how  dependent  it  is 
upon  the  head  of  its  superiors,  and  how  content  it  is 
to  go  on  piling  up  wealth  for  them  on  a  mere  starva- 
tion dole. 

As  before  said,  the  laboring  man  who  attaches  him- 
self to  a  great  family  does  so  because  it  gives  him 
security.  He  is  nearly  always  in  debt  to  it,  but  if  he  is 
sick  and  unable  to  work  he  knows  his  rice  will  come  in 
just  the  same.  Under  the  old  Spanish  system,  a  ser- 
vant in  debt  could  not  quit  his  employer's  service  till 
the  debt  was  paid.  The  object  of  an  employer  was  to 
get  a  man  in  debt  and  keep  him  so,  in  which  case  he  was 
actually,  although  not  nominally,  a,slave.  While  this 
law  is  no  longer  in  force,  probably  not  ten  per  cent  of 
the  laboring  population  realize  it.  They  know  that 
an  American  cannot  hold  them  in  his  employ  against 
their  will,  but  they  do  not  know  that  this  is  true  of 
Filipinos  and  Spaniards.  Nor  is  the  upper  class  anx- 
ious to  have  them  informed.  The  poor  frequently 
offer  their  children  or  their  younger  brothers  and  sisters 
to  work  out  their  debts. 

Children  are  sold  here  also.  Twice  in  my  first  year 
at  Capiz,  I  refused  to  buy  small  children  who  were 
offered  for  sale  by  their  parents  lest  the  worse  evil  of 
starvation  should  befall  them ;  and  once,  on  my  going 
into  a  friend's  house,  she  showed  me  a  child  of  three 


244     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

or  four  years  that  she  had  bought  for  five  pesos.  She 
remarked  that  it  was  a  pity  to  let  the  child  starve,  and 
that  in  a  year  or  two  its  labor  would  more  than  pay  for 
its  keep. 

Filipinos  who  have  capital  enough  all  keep  one  or 
more  pigs.  These  are  yard  scavengers,  and,  as  sanitary 
measures  are  little  observed  by  this  race,  have  access 
to  filth  that  makes  the  thought  of  eating  their  flesh  ex- 
ceedingly repulsive.  When  the  owners  are  ready  to 
kill,  however,  the  pig  is  brought  upstairs  into  the 
kitchen,  where  it  lives  luxuriously  on  boiled  rice,  is 
bathed  once  a  day,  and  prepared  for  slaughter  like  a 
sacrificial  victim.  If  you  are  personally  acquainted  with 
a  pig  of  this  sort  and  know  the  day  set  for  his  decease, 
you  may  send  your  servant  out  to  buy  fresh  pork; 
otherwise  you  had  better  stick  to  chicken  and  fish. 

Before  the  Insurrection,  when  the  rinderpest  had 
not  yet  destroyed  the  herds,  beef  cattle  were  plenty, 
and  meat  was  cheap  enough  for  even  the  poorest  to 
enjoy.  A  live  goat,  full  grown,  was  not  worth  more 
than  a  peso  (fifty  cents  gold) .  Now  there  are  practically 
no  beef  cattle  at  all,  so  the  only  meat  available  is  goats' 
flesh,  which  is  sold  at  from  twenty  to  sixty  cents  a 
pound  (ten  to  thirty  cents  gold).  Americans  living 
in  the  provinces  rely  largely  upon  chicken,  though  in 
the  coast  towns  there  is  always  plenty  of  delicious  fish. 
There  are  also  oysters  (not  very  good),  clams,  crabs, 
shrimps,  and  crayfish. 

One  of  the  most  irritating  features  of  housekeeping 
here  is  the  lack  of  any  fixed  value,  especially  for  market 
produce.    There  are  no  grocery  stores,  every  article 


THE  ARISTOCRACY  AND    THE  POOR      245 

must  be  chaffered  over,  and  is  valued  according  to  the 
owner's  pressing  needs,  his  antipathy  for  Americans,  or 
his  determination  to  get  everything  he  can. 

You  may  be  driving  in  the  country  and  see  a  flock  of 
chickens  feeding  under  or  near  a  house.  You  ask  the 
price.  The  owner  has  just  dined.  There  is  still  enough 
palay  (unhulled  rice)  to  furnish  the  evening  meal. 
He  has  no  pressing  need  of  money,  and  he  doesn't 
want  to  disturb  himself  to  run  down  chickens.  His  fowls 
simply  soar  as  to  price.  They  are  worth  anywhere 
from  seventy-five  cents  to  a  dollar  apiece.  The  current 
price  of  chickens  varies  according  to  size  and  season 
from  twenty  to  fifty  cents.  You  may  offer  the  latter 
price  and  be  refused.  The  next  day  the  very  same 
man  may  appear  at  your  home,  offering  for  twenty  or 
thirty  cents  the  fowls  for  which  the  day  before  he 
refused  fifty. 

Except  in  the  cold  storage  and  the  Chino  grocery 
shops  of  Manila,  nothing  can  be  bought  without  chaf- 
fering. The  Filipinos  love  this;  they  realize  that  we 
are  impatient  and  seldom  can  hold  out  long  at  it,  and 
in  many  cases  they  overcharge  us  from  sheer  race 
hatred.  Also  they  have  the  idea,  as  they  would  ex- 
press it,  that  our  money  is  two  times  as  much  as  theirs, 
and  that  therefore  we  should  pay  two  prices.  Often 
they  put  a  price  from  sheer  caprice  or  effrontery  and 
hang  to  it  from  obstinacy.  In  the  same  market  I  have 
found  mangoes  of  the  same  quality  ranging  all  the  way 
from  thirty  cents  to  a  dollar  and  fifty  cents  a  dozen. 

In  the  provinces  market  produce  is  very  limited.  In 
fresh  foods  there  is  nothing  but  sweet  potatoes,  several 


246    IMPRESSIONS   OF   THE    PHILIPPINES 

varieties  of  squash,  a  kind  of  string  bean,  lima  beans, 
lettuce,  radishes,  cucumbers  (in  season),  spinach,  and 
field  corn.  Potatoes  and  onions  can  be  procured  only 
from  Manila,  bought  by  the  crate.  If  there  be  no 
local  commissary,  tinned  foods  must  be  sent  in  bulk 
from  Manila.  The  housekeeper's  task  is  no  easy  one, 
and  the  lack  of  fresh  beef,  ice,  fresh  butter,  and  milk 
wears  hard  on  a  dainty  appetite.  The  Philippines  are 
no  place  for  women  or  men  who  cannot  thrive  and  be 
happy  on  plain  food,  plenty  of  work,  and  isolation. 
Nor  is  there  any  sadder  lot  than  that  of  the  American 
married  woman  in  the  provinces  who  is  unemployed. 
Her  housekeeping  takes  very  little  time,  for  the  cheap- 
ness of  native  servants  obviates  the  necessity  of  all 
labor  but  that  of  supervision.  There  is  nowhere  to  go, 
nothing  to  do,  nothing  to  read,  nothing  to  talk  about. 
She  has  nothing  to  do  but  to  lie  in  a  steamer  chair  and 
to  think  of  home.  Most  women  break  down  under  it 
very  quickly;  they  lose  appetite  and  flesh  and  grow 
fretful  or  melancholy.  But  to  a  woman  who  loves  her 
home  and  is  employed,  provincial  life  here  is  a  boon. 
Remember  that  for  an  expenditure  of  forty  or  fifty 
dollars  a  month  the  single  woman  can  maintain  an 
establishment  of  her  own  —  a  genuine  home  —  where 
after  a  day's  toil  she  can  find  order  and  peace  and 
idleness  awaiting  her.  Filipino  servants  are  not 
ideal,  but  any  woman  with  a  capacity  for  organization 
can  soon  train  them  into  keeping  her  house  in  the  out- 
ward semblance  at  least  of  order  and  cleanliness.  She 
had  better  investigate  it  pretty  closely  on  Saturdays  and 
Sundays ;   if  she  does  so,  she  can  leave  it  to  run  itself 


THE  ARISTOCRACY  AND    THE  POOR      247 

very  well  during  the  five  days  of  her  labor.  And  what 
a  joy  it  is  —  I  speak  in  the  bitter  remembrance  of  a  long 
line  of  hotels  and  boarding-houses  —  to  go  back  to 
one's  home  after  a  day's  labor  instead  of  to  a  hall  bed- 
room; to  sit  at  one's  own  well-ordered  if  simple 
table,  and  escape  the  chatter  of  twenty  or  thirty  people 
who  have  no  reason  for  association  except  their  eco- 
nomic necessities ! 

In  the  six  years  I  have  lived  in  these  Islands,  I  have 
never  heard  of  indignity  or  disrespect  shown  to  Ameri- 
can women.1  They  are  perfectly  safe,  and  if  they 
choose  to  exercise  any  common  sense,  need  not  be  ner- 
vous. Housebreaking  outside  of  Manila  is  unknown. 
I  myself  lived  for  four  years  in  a  provincial  town,  the 
greater  part  of  the  time  quite  removed  from  the  neigh- 
borhood of  other  Americans,  with  only  two  little  girls  in 
the  house  with  me.  I  remember  one  evening  having  a 
couple  of  civil  engineers,  who  had  been  fellow  passengers 
on  the  transport  and  were  temporarily  in  town,  to  din- 
ner. When  they  were  ready  to  leave,  at  half-past  ten, 
the  little  girls  had  both  gone  to  sleep,  so  I  went  down- 
stairs to  let  them  out  and  bar  the  door  after  them. 
One  burst  out  laughing  and  remarked  that  my  bolting 
the  door  was  a  formality,  and  that  I  must  have  confi- 
dence in  the  honesty  of  the  natives.  The  door  was  of 
bamboo,  tied  on  with  strips  of  rattan  in  place  of  hinges, 
which  any  one  could  have  cut  with  a  knife.    I  admitted 

1  Since  the  writing  of  the  above  sentence,  one  American 
woman  has  been  murdered  in  Batangas,  one  young  girl  violated 
in  Manila,  and  knowledge  has  come  to  the  writer  of  three  cases 
of  attempted  assault  on  American  women,  which  were  kept  out  of 
the  newspapers. 


248     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

that  the  man  was  right,  but  the  closed  door  was  the 
symbol  that  my  house  was  my  castle,  and  I  had  no 
fear  of  Filipino  thieves.  The  only  time  I  was  ever 
really  afraid  was  when  there  were  two  or  three  dis- 
reputable Americans  in  town. 

The  two  girls  from  Radcliff e  were  in  a  town  in  Negros 
where  there  was  no  other  American,  man  or  woman, 
and  held  their  position  for  over  a  year ;  nor  were  they 
once  affrighted  in  all  that  time. 

After  five  years  of  this  peace  and  security  in  the 
"wilds,"  I  went  back  to  the  United  States  and  met  the 
pitying  ejaculations  of  the  community  on  my  exile. 
Well,  there  was  a  difference.  I  noted  it  first  on  the 
dining-car  of  the  Canadian-Pacific  Railroad,  where 
one's  plate  was  surrounded  by  a  host  of  little  dishes, 
where  the  clatter  of  service  was  deafening  (so  different 
from  the  noiselessness  of  the  Oriental),  and  the  gentle- 
man who  filled  my  water  glass  held  it  about  three  feet 
from  the  water  bottle,  and  manipulated  both  in  sym- 
pathetic curves  which  expressed  his  entire  mastery  of 
the  art.  I  found  it  again  on  the  Northwestern,  where 
the  colored  porter,  observing  some  Chinese  coins  in  my 
purse  when  I  tipped  him,  said,  "Le's  see,"  with  a  con- 
fidence born  of  democracy,  and  sat  down  on  the  arm 
of  the  Pullman  seat  to  get  a  better  view  of  them. 

But  it  was  in  Chicago  —  the  busy,  noisy,  dusty,  hust- 
ling Chicago  —  that  all  the  joys  of  civilization  fell  on  me 
at  once.  It  seemed  to  be  in  a  state  of  siege  with  house 
thieves,  assassins,  and  "hold-ups."  There  had  been 
several  murders  of  women,  so  revolting  that  the  news- 
papers would  not  print  the  details.    I  found  my  broth- 


THE  ARISTOCRACY  AND    THE  POOR      249 

er's  flat  equipped  with  special  bolts  on  all  outside  doors, 
so  that  they  could  be  opened  for  an  inch  or  two  with- 
out giving  anybody  an  opportunity  to  push  in.  Once 
when  a  police  officer  called  at  the  door  to  ask  for  sub- 
scriptions for  the  sufferers  of  the  San  Francisco  disaster, 
I  locked  him  out  on  the  back  porch  while  I  did  some 
telephoning  to  see  if  it  was  all  right.  Women  were 
afraid  to  be  on  the  streets  in  the  early  dusk.  Extra 
policemen  had  been  sworn  in,  preachers  had  delivered 
sermons  on  the  frightful  condition  of  the  city. 

At  night  I  locked  my  bedroom  door,  and  dreamed 
of  masked  burglars  standing  over  me  threatening  with 
drawn  revolver.  For  the  thirty  days  I  remained  there, 
I  knew  more  of  nervousness  and  terror  than  the  whole 
time  I  spent  in  the  Philippines,  and  I  came  back  to  re- 
sume the  old  life  where  there  is  security  in  all  things, 
barring  a  very  remote  insurrection  and  the  possibility 
of  hearing  the  roar  of  Japanese  guns  some  fine  morning. 
And  through  and  through  a  grateful  system  I  felt  the 
lifting  of  the  tremendous  pressure,  the  agonizing  strain, 
competition,  and  tumult  of  American  life.  Thank 
Heaven !  there  is  still  a  manana  country  —  a  fair,  sunny 
land,  where  rapid  transportation  and  sky-scrapers  do 
not  exist. 


CHAPTER  NINETEEN 

WEDDINGS  IN  TOWN  AND   COUNTRY 

Filipino  Brides,  their  Weddings  and  Wedding  Suppers  — 
A  River  Trip  to  a  Rural  Wedding  —  Our  Late  Arrival 
delays  the  ceremony  until  next  morning  —  the  ball 
—  We  tramp  across  the  Fields  to  the  Church  —  After 
the  Marriage,  Feasting  and  Dancing. 

THE  composure  with  which  a  Filipino  girl  enters 
matrimony  is  astounding.  There  are  no  tears, 
no  self-conscious  blushes,  none  of  the  charm- 
ing shyness  that  encompasses  an  American  girl  as  a  gar- 
ment. It  is  a  contradictory  state  of  affairs,  I  must 
admit,  for  this  same  American  girl  is  a  self-reliant 
creature,  accustomed  to  the  widest  range  of  action  and 
liberty,  while  the  matter-of-fact,  self-possessed  Filipina 
has  been  reared  to  find  it  impossible  to  step  across  the 
street  without  attendance.  But  the  free,  liberty-loving 
American  yields  shyly  to  her  captor,  while  the  sedate- 
ness  of  the  prospective  matron  has  already  taken  pos- 
session of  the  dusky  sister. 

FUipino  marriages,  among  the  upper  class,  are  ac- 
companied by  receptions  and  feasts  like  our  own,  but 
differ  greatly  in  the  comparatively  insignificant  part 
played  by  the  contracting  parties.  Whereas,  in  an 
American  wedding,  the  whole  object  of  calling  all  these 
people  together  seems  to  be  a  desire  to  silhouette  the 


WEDDINGS  IN   TOWN  AND  COUNTRY    251 

bride  and  groom  against  the  festive  background,  one 
comes  away  from  a  Filipino  celebration  with  a  feeling 
that  an  excuse  was  needed  for  assembling  a  multitude 
and  permitting  them  to  enjoy  themselves,  and  that  the 
bridal  pair  unselfishly  lent  themselves  to  the  occasion. 

Most  weddings  take  place  about  half-past  six  or 
seven  in  the  evening;  and  immediately  after  the  re- 
ligious ceremony  in  the  church,  all  the  invited  guests 
adjourn  to  the  home  of  a  relative  (usually,  but  not 
necessarily,  the  nearest  kinsman  of  the  bride),  where 
supper  is  served  and  is  followed  by  a  ball. 

On  these  occasions,  except  for  the  candles  on  the 
altar,  the  church  is  unlighted,  and  in  its  cavernous 
darkness  the  footfalls  of  a  gathering  crowd  ring  on  the 
stone  floor,  and  the  hum  of  voices  rolls  up  into  the 
arching  gloom  of  the  roof. 

There  are  no  pews,  but  two  rows  of  benches,  facing 
each  other,  up  the  middle  length  of  the  edifice,  offer 
seats  to  the  upper-class  people,  who  seem  chiefly  inter- 
ested in  preserving  the  spotlessness  of  their  gala  attire. 
No  attempt  at  exclusiveness  is  made,  and  a  horde  of 
babbling,  gesticulating,  lower-class  natives  surges  to 
and  fro  at  the  rear,  awaiting  the  bride. 

Presently,  to  the  clangor  of  half  a  dozen  huge  bells, 
she  sweeps  in,  accompanied  by  her  madrina,  or  chief 
witness.  They  take  station  at  the  back  between  the 
baptismal  fonts  and  just  in  front  of  the  overhanging 
choir  gallery.  Instantly  they  are  hemmed  in,  mobbed, 
by  that  swarm  of  pobres,  some  speculating  on  the  motive 
of  the  match  and  its  probable  outcome.  Meanwhile 
the  bridegroom  is  smoking  a  cigarette  at  one  side,  and 


252     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

chatting  with  a  group  of  bachelor  friends  who  are  faith- 
ful to  the  last. 

Just  as  one  begins  to  wonder  how  much  longer  these 
unfortunate  women  can  endure  the  position,  the  bare- 
footed acolytes  shuffle  in,  bearing  six-foot  silver  candle- 
sticks, and  preceding  the  padre,  who  is  carrying  his 
illumination  with  him  —  or  rather,  having  it  carried  in 
front  of  him.  The  bridegroom  throws  away  his  cigar- 
ette, and  shouldering  his  way  through  the  press,  takes 
his  position  at  the  side  of  the  bride.  The  mob  closes  in 
again,  not  infrequently  incommoding  the  padre,  who  is 
peering  at  his  half-lighted  missal.  The  aristocrats  on 
the  benches  pay  no  attention  and  continue  to  guard 
their  ropa  and  converse  on  chance  topics. 

To  one  standing  on  the  edge  of  that  wriggling  throng 
with  the  yellow  flare  just  lighting  the  impassive  coun- 
tenances of  its  chief  personages,  and  hearing  a  low 
monotone,  broken  only  by  the  clink  of  metal  as  gold 
pieces  fall  into  the  plate,  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that 
this  is  a  wedding,  just  like  those  pictured  and  tableau 
effects  that  one  is  treated  to  at  home. 

At  last  the  voice  stops,  the  mob  and  the  smoky  can- 
dles surge  forward  to  the  altar,  where  the  benediction 
is  said.  Another  impeded  progress  to  the  rear  (every- 
body gets  up  without  waiting  for  the  bride  and  bride- 
groom to  pass),  the  sorely  tried  couple  step  into  a 
waiting  victoria,  and  we  troop  after  them,  getting  our 
felicitations  ready. 

On  arriving  at  the  house  we  are  received  by  the  groom 
and  some  female  relative  of  his,  or,  perchance,  the  bride's 
papa.    No  opportunity  of  formally  congratulating  the 


WEDDINGS  IN    TOWN  AND   COUNTRY    253 

young  couple  is  offered.  The  bride  retires  into  an  inner 
room,  where  she  removes  her  veil,  and  receives  such  of 
her  lady  friends  as  desire  to  kiss  her  on  both  cheeks. 
But  by  and  by  she  comes  out,  self-possessed  and  un- 
smiling, to  distribute  the  fragments  of  her  artificial 
orange  blossom  wreath  to  her  aspiring  girl  friends. 
This  is  a  parallel  to  the  distribution  of  wedding  cake, 
which  the  American  girl  puts  under  her  pillow  and 
dreams  upon. 

By  this  time  the  orchestra  has  arrived  and  is  playing 
triumphantly  under  the  windows.  Though  engaged 
beforehand,  it  always  accomplishes  its  appearance  with 
a  casual  and  unpremeditated  air.  The  musicians  are 
then  (per  contract)  invited  to  enter,  and  strike  up  a 
rigadoon.  Generally,  but  not  always,  the  most  im- 
portant man  present  invites  the  bride  for  this  dance. 
But  I  have  known  brides  to  sit  it  out,  for  lack  of  a  part- 
ner. The  bridegroom  chooseth  as  he  listeth;  when 
American  women  are  present,  the  fathers  of  the  bride 
and  groom  usually  request  the  honor  of  leading  them 
out. 

After  this  first  dance  supper  is  served.  If  an  impor- 
tant native  official  be  present,  it  is  a  point  of  etiquette 
that  he  take  the  bride.  Only  a  few  men  of  high  rank 
sit  at  the  first  table,  which  is  given  over  to  women.  The 
service  is  not  left  to  servants,  but  all  male  relatives  of 
the  family  vie  with  each  other  in  anticipating  the 
wants  of  the  guests. 

It  is  a  feast  of  solid  and  satisfying  excellence.  It 
begins  usually  with  vermicelli  soup  (made  from  a  lard 
stock)  which  is  more  than  likely  to  have  been  dished  a 


254     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

half-hour  and  to  be  stone  cold.  But  Filipinos  are  not 
critical  in  this  regard;  and  Americans,  in  view  of  all 
that  is  coining,  may  dispense  with  this  one  dish. 

Then  follow  meats  innumerable,  each  with  its  own 
garnish,  but  without  separate  vegetables.  There  is 
goat's  flesh  stewed  with  garbanzas,  onions,  potatoes, 
and  peppers;  chicken  minced  with  garlic,  and  green 
peas;  chicken  boned  and  made  to  look  and  taste  like 
breaded  cutlet ;  boiled  ham ;  a  fat  capon,  boned,  stuffed, 
and  seasoned  with  garlic,  his  erstwhile  proud  head  roll- 
ing in  scarified  humility;  breaded  pork  chops;  roast 
pork,  with  unlimited  crackling;  cold  turkey;  baked 
duck,  and  several  kinds  of  fish. 

There  are  no  salads,  but  plenty  of  relishes,  including 
the  canned  red  peppers  of  Spain ;  olives,  pickles,  cheese, 
and  green  mango  pickles.  At  intervals  along  the  table 
are  alluring  glass  dishes,  filled  with  crystallized  fruits. 

After  this  come  the  sweets.  There  is  no  cake,  as  we 
know  it,  but  meringues  (French  kisses),  baked  custard 
coated  with  caramel  sauce,  which  they  call  flaon;  a 
kind  of  cocoanut  macaroon,  the  little  gelatinous  seeds 
of  the  nipa  palm,  boiled  in  sugar  syrup,  and  half  a  dozen 
kinds  of  preserves  and  candied  fruits.  Tinto  accom- 
panies the  supper,  and  possibly  champagne. 

As  two  or  three  hundred  people  are  served  on  such 
an  occasion,  the  intermission  for  supper  is  a  long  one, 
and  dancing  is  not  resumed  till  half-past  nine  or  ten 
o'clock.  It  may  then  continue  till  midnight  or  dawn, 
just  as  the  actions  of  a  few  important  guests  may  de- 
termine. Filipinos  are  very  quick  to  follow  a  lead; 
and  if,  owing  perhaps  to  a  concurrence  of  events  which 


WEDDINGS   IN    TOWN  AND   COUNTRY    255 

may  be  perfectly  foreign  to  the  occasion,  a  number 
of  prominent  people  leave  early,  the  rest  soon  take 
flight. 

In  one  of  the  later  years  of  my  stay  my  good  fortune 
led  me  to  witness  a  wedding  of  another  type,  which 
differed  from  the  class  I  have  described  as  the  simple 
rural  gathering  at  home  differs  from  the  exotic  atmos- 
phere of  a  fashionable  reception.  It  was  just  after  my 
return  from  vacation  that  one  morning  a  group  of  my 
pupils  burst  in,  accompanying  a  middle-aged  Filipina 
who  hesitatingly  made  known  her  errand.  Her  niece, 
who  lived  some  five  or  six  miles  up  the  river,  was  to  be 
married  that  night,  and  a  large  number  of  people  from 
town  were  going  up.  Could  I  accompany  them,  and 
would  I  act  as  one  of  the  three  madrinas  for  the  occa- 
sion? As  the  bride  was  of  an  insurrecto  family,  whose 
name  was  familiar  through  bygone  military  acquaint- 
ances, I  snapped  at  an  opportunity  to  view  the  in- 
surrecto upon  his  own  (pacified)  hearth,  and  after 
consuming  a  hasty  lunch  and  packing  a  valise,  I  set 
out  for  the  river  bank  where  we  were  to  rendezvous. 

Our  craft,  a  catamaran  made  by  securing  three 
barotos  side  by  side  and  flooring  them  with  bamboo, 
was  the  centre  of  great  public  excitement.  It  had  a 
walk  outrigged  at  each  side  for  the  men  who  were  to 
punt,  or  pole  us  up  the  river.  It  was  roofed  with  a 
framework  of  bamboo,  which  was  covered  with  palm 
leaves  and  wreathed  in  bonoe-bonoe  vines,  and  from 
this  green  bower  were  suspended  the  fruits  of  the  season. 
—  bananas,  the  scarlet  sagin-sagin,  and  even  succulent 
ears  of  sweet  corn. 


256     IMPRESSIONS   OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

Cane  stools  were  provided  for  a  few,  but  many  of  the 
young  people  sat  flat  on  the  floor.  When  we  were 
embarked,  to  the  number  of  about  forty,  the  barotos 
were  so  deep  in  the  water  that  the  swirling  current  was 
within  an  inch  of  their  gunwales.  A  tilt  to  one  side  or  a 
wave  in  the  river  would  have  sunk  us. 

The  baggage  and  a  few  supernumerary  young  men 
and  a  mandolin  orchestra  were  loaded  into  an  enormous 
baroto,  and  ten  sturdy  brown  backs  bent  forward  as 
the  boatmen  pushed  with  all  their  strength  against  the 
great  bamboo  poles,  which  looked  as  if  they  would  snap 
under  the  strain. 

The  river  was  swollen  with  three  days'  tropical  down- 
pour and  rmining  out  resistlessly  in  the  teeth  of  a 
high  tide.  As  we  slipped  out  of  the  shallow  water  at 
the  bank,  the  current  caught  us  and  hurled  us  fifty 
feet  down  stream.  The  baroto  left  apparently  for  the 
port,  which  was  four  miles  away.  Our  valiant  punters 
were  useless  against  the  river;  but  amid  a  hubbub 
in  which  every  man,  woman,  and  babe  aboard,  except 
one  American  man  and  myself,  appeared  to  be  giving 
orders,  we  got  back  to  the  bank  and  shipped  an  addi- 
tional crew.  This  consumed  time,  because  the  specta- 
tors, who  had  seen  what  work  it  was  going  to  be,  were 
coy  of  enlisting.  But  at  last  we  got  away,  eight  men 
to  a  side,  and  the  water  perceptibly  nearer  the  gun- 
wales, and  with  infinite  labor  we  succeeded  in  poling 
around  a  bend  and  leaving  the  town  behind  us. 

But  there  we  stuck  again  in  a  swift  reach,  and  there 
were  time  and  opportunity  to  marvel  at  the  impenetra- 
able  green  and  silence  of  the  nipa  swamps.    The  banks 


WEDDINGS   IN    TOWN  AND   COUNTRY    257 

—  or  rather  limits  of  the  current  —  were  thickets  of 
water  grass  six  feet  high,  its  roots  sunk  in  ooze.  Here 
and  there  a  rise  of  ground  betrayed  itself  in  a  few 
cocoanuts,  the  ragged  fans  of  tall  bouri  palms,  or  a 
plume-like  clump  of  bamboo  and  the  hospitable  shade 
of  a  magnificent  mango  tree. 

The  atmosphere  was  close  and  muggy,  and  now  and 
then  a  shower  pattered  down  on  us.  Suddenly,  through 
the  strange  desolation  of  this  alien  landscape,  the 
familiar  thump  of  guitars  and  mandolins  assailed  the 
stillness.  The  music  carried  me  back  to  half -forgotten 
experiences  —  red  sunsets  between  the  cathedral  bluffs 
of  the  Mississippi,  and  sad-eyed  negroes  twanging  the 
strings  on  the  forward  deck  of  a  nosing  steamboat; 
crisp  July  afternoons  on  the  Straits  of  Mackinac  when 
the  wind  swept  in  from  froth-capped  blue  Huron,  and 
the  little  excursion  steamer  from  St.  Ignace  rollicked 
her  way  homeward  to  the  cottage-crowned  heights  of 
the  island. 

I  shut  my  eyes  and  tried  to  "make  believe"  that 
they  would  open  on  far-off,  familiar  scenes.  Nothing 
could  have  been  more  weird  and  incongruous  than  the 
American  air  with  this  alien  soil  and  people.  It  was 
"Hiawatha,"  and  to  the  inspiring  strains  of  "Let  the 
women  do  the  work,  let  the  men  take  it  easy,"  our 
forgotten  baroto  swept  into  sight  in  the  easy  water 
under  the  opposite  bank.  We  made  a  herculean  effort, 
inspired  by  envy,  and  got  away.  Space  forbids  me  to 
enumerate  the  hairbreadth  escapes  of  that  journey. 
We  put  men  ashore  when  the  banks  permitted  and 
were  towed  like  a  canal  boat.    Once  we  were  swept 

17 


258     IMPRESSIONS   OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

into  mid-stream,  where  the  poles  were  useless  on  account 
of  the  great  depth,  and  had  to  drift  back  till  the  water 
shoaled  again.  In  late  afternoon  we  took  on  a  supply 
of  sugar  cane,  and  chewed  affably  all  the  rest  of  the 
way. 

At  first  I  had  been  nervous,  but  my  native  friends 
were  quite  unconcerned.  So  remembering  that  Heaven 
protects  the  insane  and  the  imbecile,  and  regarding 
them  as  the  former  and  myself  as  the  latter,  I  ceased 
to  speculate  on  the  probabilities  of  another  incarnation. 

We  consumed  six  hours  in  a  journey  normally  ac- 
complished in  two,  and  night  overtook  us  in  a  labyrinth 
of  water  lanes  above  whose  forested  swamps  the  out- 
lines of  a  stern  old  church  were  magnified  in  the  gloom. 
One  by  one  the  stars  sprang  mysteriously  into  view 
in  the  soft  void  overhead,  and  somehow  —  marvel- 
lously —  we  found  our  destination.  A  group  of  friends 
and  servants  flared  their  torches  on  the  bank,  and  we 
dragged  our  stiffened  limbs  to  them.  It  was  too  dark 
to  see  where  we  were  going,  until  we  stumbled  almost 
into  a  lighted  doorway  and  found  the  company  await- 
ing us.  Owing  to  the  delay  in  our  arrival,  the  wedding 
was  deferred  till  the  next  morning,  but  the  ball  was 
about  to  open. 

Food  was  given  us,  and  after  a  freshening  up  and  a 
change  of  raiment  we  joined  the  reunion,  which  was  in 
full  swing.  The  prospective  husband  and  wife  were 
enjoying  their  usual  state  of  effacement,  but  I  dis- 
covered them  finally.  I  talked  with  the  insurrecto  and 
found  him  a  man  of  ability. 

I  left  the  ball,  exhausted,  at  one  o'clock,  but  those 


WEDDINGS   IN    TOWN  AND   COUNTRY    259 

indefatigable  people  kept  it  up  all  night.  I  awoke 
at  dawn  to  find  the  floor  occupied  by  about  twenty 
yawning  maidens  who  were  merely  resting,  for  there 
was  no  time  for  a  nap.  We  dressed  in  the  cool  dawn 
breeze  and  went  out  in  time  to  see  the  morning  mists 
rise  from  a  broad  oval  of  rice  and  maize  fields,  and  hang 
themselves  in  ever-changing  folds  on  the  sides  of  the 
purple  mountains  beyond. 

But  for  the  character  of  the  vegetation  that  rimmed 
the  arable  land,  and  the  bare  green  shoulders  of  the 
hills,  streaked  here  and  there  with  pink  clayey  ravines, 
it  might  have  been  a  peaceful  sunrise  in  middle  America. 
The  homelike  atmosphere  was  accentuated  by  the 
roofs  of  a  town  and  by  a  church  spire,  still  silvered 
with  mist,  half  a  mile  away.  We  tramped  across  the 
fields  to  our  objective  point.  As  madrina,  I  walked 
with  the  bride,  but  conversation  did  not  thrive  be- 
cause she  spoke  little  Spanish,  and  I  less  Visayan. 

Carabaos  sniffed  at  us  as  we  passed,  and  people 
crowded  their  windows  to  look.  We  crossed  a  slough 
upon  a  bridge  of  quaint  and  ancient  architecture  on 
the  thither  side  of  which  were  a  grassy  plaza  and  the 
stern  lines  of  the  church.  The  wedding  bells  broke 
forth  in  a  furious  joy  and  flung  their  notes  to  the 
distant  hill  flanks,  which  in  turn  flung  them  back  to 
the  blue,  sparkling  sea. 

The  church  was  tiled  in  black  and  white  marble, 
and  inhabited  by  a  lusty  family  of  goats.  Their  innate 
perversity  and  an  apparent  curiosity  led  them  to  resent 
exclusion;  but  after  a  lively  pursuit  they  were  ejected, 
and  the  bride  and  I  sat  on  a  bench  to  rest.    The  bride- 


260     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

groom  took  a  last  smoke,  and  the  strangers  deciphered 
obituary  notices  on  the  mural  tombstones. 

The  padre  came  along  finally,  smelling  of  a  matutinal 
appetizer,  and  they  distributed  pillows  and  candles  to 
the  madrinas  and  padrinos.  As  evidence  of  change  of 
heart  in  the  late  insurrecto,  the  pillows  were  some  of 
red,  some  of  white,  and  some  of  blue  cloth. 

It  was  over  at  last,  when  I  was  stiff  with  kneeling 
and  had  ornamented  myself  with  much  candle  grease. 
I  went  up  to  congratulate  the  bride,  but  felt  that  the 
handshake  was  not  coming  off  properly.  Finally  I 
discovered  that  I  was  resisting  an  effort  on  her  part 
to  bring  my  hand  to  her  lips.  So  I  succumbed  and  sub- 
mitted to  the  distinction,  and  she  then  proceeded  to 
salute  the  other  madrinas. 

There  was  nothing  coy  or  sentimental  about  that 
bride.  She  needed  no  support,  moral  or  other.  Sweet 
sixteen,  "  plump  as  a  partridge,"  she  gathered  up  her 
white  silk  skirt  with  its  blue  ribbons  and  struck  out  for 
home.  Her  husband  made  no  attempt  to  follow  her. 
She  beat  us  all  home  by  a  quarter  of  a  mile.  When  we 
arrived,  she  had  changed  her  gown  and  was  supervis- 
ing breakfast  preparations. 

I  was  tired,  and  when  a  native  sled  drawn  by  a 
carabao  came  along,  was  glad  enough  to  seat  myself 
on  its  flat  bottom,  together  with  one  or  two  wearied 
maidens,  and  be  drawn  back  in  slow  dignity.  We 
intercepted  a  boy  with  roasting  ears,  and  the  wedding 
guests  sat  about,  nibbling  like  rodents  while  we  waited 
breakfast. 

After  that  meal  dancing  began  again  and  continued 


WEDDINGS   IN    TOWN   AND   COUNTRY    261 

until  dinner.  Once  the  floor  was  cleared,  and  the  bridal 
pair  danced  one  waltz  together.  They  did  not  glance 
once  at  each  other,  and  seemed  bored. 

Dinner  was  another  feast,  and  afterwards  we  sought 
our  state  barge  and  the  perils  of  the  return  journey. 
The  newly  married  couple  came  down  to  see  us  off, 
still  bearing  themselves  with  a  preoccupied  and  list- 
less air.  The  orchestra  remained  until  the  next  day, 
and  we  threaded  the  water  lanes  in  quiet,  emerging  at 
last  on  the  full-breasted  river.  The  home  journey  con- 
sumed only  three  hours,  and  was  comparatively  un- 
eventful. The  wife  of  the  Presidente  gathered  her 
family  about  her  and  artlessly  searched  their  raven 
pates  for  inhabitants  which  pay  no  taxes,  and  most  of 
the  young  people  drooped  with  weariness.  We  rounded 
the  bend  at  five  o'clock;  and  thankful  I  was  to  put 
foot  on  terra  firma  once  more.  I  was  tired,  but  glad 
that  I  had  gone. 


CHAPTER  TWENTY 

SICKBEDS   AND   FUNERALS 

Customs  in  the  Treatment  of  the  Sick  —  Stately  Funeral 
Processions  —  The    Funeral    op  a   Poor   Man  —  Unso- 

ciableness  of  the  poor wakes  and  burial  of  the 

Rich  —  A  u  Petrified  "  Man. 

FILIPINOS  are  punctilious  about  many  things 
concerning  which  we  have  passed  the  extremely 
punctilious  stage.  Some  of  their  strictest 
observances  are  in  the  matters  of  sickness  and  death. 
The  sick  have  what  we  would  consider  a  hard  time. 
To  begin  with,  they  are  immured  in  rooms  from  which, 
as  far  as  possible,  all  light  and  air  are  excluded.  In  a 
tropical  climate,  where  the  breeze  is  almost  indis- 
pensable to  comfort,  the  reader  may  imagine  the 
result.  Then  all  their  relatives,  near  and  far,  flock 
to  see  them ;  they  crowd  the  apartment,  and  insist  on 
talking  to  keep  the  patient  from  becoming  triste. 
When  the  sufferer  finds  this  insupportable  and  gives 
up  the  struggle  to  live,  the  whole  clan,  out  to  the  last 
connection,  set  about  preparing  their  mourning. 

Every  woman  makes  a  black  dress,  and  every  man 
ties  a  band  of  black  cloth  around  his  white  coat  sleeve. 
When  there  is  a  wake,  it  is  noisy  enough  to  be  Irish. 
Our  Eastern  friends  resemble  the  Irish  also  in  their 


SICKBEDS  AND  FUNERALS  263 

love  of  a  fine  funeral.  To  go  to  the  last  resting-place 
escorted  by  a  band  and  with  all  possible  ceremony 
seems  to  make  even  death  acceptable  to  them. 

Among  the  very  poor  this  ambition  is  quite  dis- 
proportionate to  their  resources.  The  percentage  of 
infant  mortality,  owing  to  poor  nutrition,  is  especially 
high;  yet  babe  after  babe  whose  mother  unwittingly 
starved  it  to  death  is  given  a  funeral  in  which  the 
baby  carriage  hearse  is  preceded  by  a  local  band, 
and  hired  mourners  stalk  solemnly  behind  the  little 
coffin  in  place  of  the  mother,  who  is,  in  etiquette, 
required  to  remain  at  home. 

In  Manila  funerals  resemble  our  own,  save  that  the 
hearse,  be  it  white  for  a  child  or  black  for  an  adult,  is 
drawn  by  stately  caparisoned  horses,  at  the  bridles 
of  which  stalk  men  in  eighteenth-century  court  cos- 
tumes, which  include  huge  shoe  buckles,  black  silk 
stockings,  and  powdered  wigs.  The  carriages  flock 
behind  with  little  pretence  of  order,  and  at  a  sharper 
pace  than  is  customary  with  us.  The  populace  are, 
however,  most  respectful ;  rich  and  poor  alike  remove 
their  hats  when  the  funeral  cortege  is  passing. 

In  the  provinces  where  there  are  no  hearses,  a 
funeral  consists  usually  of  a  coffin  carried  on  the 
shoulders  of  four  men,  and  followed  by  a  straggling 
concourse  of  mourners.  If  the  corpse  be  that  of  a 
child,  it  not  infrequently  lies,  gorgeously  dressed, 
upon  the  blue-and-pink-beribboned  cushions  of  a  four- 
wheeled  baby  carriage.  New-born  babes  are  buried  in 
tiny  coffins  covered  with  pink  or  blue  cambric. 

The  Filipinos  say  that  when  a  child  dies  its  pure 


264     IMPRESSIONS   OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

little  soul  goes  straight  to  gloria,  wherefore  it  is  much 
to  be  congratulated  on  leaving  this  abode  of  sorrow 
for  one  of  unending  happiness,  and  only  gay  music  is 
used  at  the  funeral.  The  local  bands  play  solely  by 
ear,  and  make  the  most  of  whatever  music  they  hear 
sung  or  whistled  on  the  streets,  with  the  result  that 
strangely  inappropriate  selections  are  used  on  these 
occasions.  At  the  first  child's  funeral  I  ever  saw,  the 
band  was  playing  "Hot  Time,"  and  a  friend  to  whom 
I  related  this  fact,  declared  that  at  the  first  one  he 
ever  saw  they  were  playing,  "I  don't  care  if  you  never 
come  back."  This  sounds  too  fortuitously  happy  to  be 
true,  but  it  is  quite  within  the  possible. 

When  I  had  lived  in  Capiz  a  year  or  two,  my  wash- 
erman, or  lavandero,  died,  and  his  widow,  pointing  to 
a  numerous  progeny,  besought  for  an  advance  of  five 
pesos  for  necessary  funeral  expenses.  She  wanted 
ten,  but  I  refused  to  countenance  that  extravagance. 
She  did  not  seem  overcome  by  grief,  and  her  plea  of 
numerous  offspring  was  really  valueless,  for,  if  anything, 
they  were  all  better  off  than  before.  Her  lord  had  been 
only  a  sham  washerman,  collecting  the  garments  for 
her  to  wash,  delivering  them,  and  pocketing  the  re- 
turns, of  which  he  gave  her  as  small  a  moiety  as  would 
sustain  life,  and  spent  the  rest  on  the  cockpit. 

Funerals  in  a  country  where  there  are  no  preserva- 
tives take  place  very  soon.  The  lavandero  died  at 
dawn,  his  widow  made  her  levy  on  me  before  seven 
o'clock,  and,  coming  home  that  afternoon,  I  met  the 
funeral  in  a  thickly  shaded  lane. 

Local  tradition  disapproves  of  the  appearance  of 


SICKBEDS  AND   FUNERALS  265 

near  female  relations  at  a  funeral,  so  the  dead  man's 
escort  consisted  only  of  the  four  bearers,  and  three 
small  boys,  all  under  eleven  years  of  age.  The  coffin 
was  one  in  general  use  —  rented  for  the  trip  to  the 
cemetery.  Once  there,  the  body,  wrapped  in  its  petate, 
or  sleeping  mat,  would  be  rolled  into  a  shallow  grave.  J 

The  four  bearers  were  dirty  and  were  chewing  beteW 
nut  as  they  trudged  along  under  their  burden.  Behind 
them  came  the  dead  man's  son,  apparelled  in  a  pair  of 
blue  denim  trousers.  His  body,  naked  to  the  waist, 
was  glistening  brown  after  a  bath,  and  he  carried 
under  one  arm  a  fresh  laundered  camisa,  or  Chino  shirt, 
of  white  muslin,  to  be  put  on  when  he  reached  the 
church. 

His  two  supporters  were  the  brothers  of  my  muchacha, 
who  lived  in  the  same  yard  and  who  evidently  had 
convictions  about  standing  by  a  comrade  in  misfor- 
tune. The  elder,  a  boy  of  seven,  was  fairly  clean; 
but  the  younger,  somewhere  between  three  and  five, 
was  clad  in  a  single  low-necked  slip  of  filthy  pink 
cotton,  which  draped  itself  at  a  coquettish  angle  across 
his  shoulders,  and  hung  down  two  or  three  inches 
below  his  left  knee.  His  smile,  which  was  of  a  most 
engaging  nature,  occupied  so  much  of  his  countenance 
that  it  was  difficult  to  find  traces  of  the  pride  which 
actually  radiated  from  the  other  two. 

My  curiosity  was  enough  to  make  me  turn  and  follow 
them  to  the  church.  There  the  body  was  deposited 
on  the  floor  at  the  rear,  just  below  a  door  in  the  gal- 
lery which  led  to  the  priest's  house,  or  convento.  The 
bearers  squatted  on  their  heels  and  fell  to  wrapping 


266     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

up  pieces  of  betel-nut  in  lime  paste  and  buya  leaf, 
while  a  sacristan  went  to  call  the  priest.  The  dead 
man's  son  reverently  put  on  his  clean  shirt,  and  the 
youngest  urchin  sucked  his  thumb  and  continued  to 
grin  at  me. 

Presently  a  priest  came  through  the  door  and  leaned 
over  the  gallery,  followed  by  two  sacristans,  one  bear- 
ing a  censer  and  the  other  a  bell.  The  censer-bearer 
swung  his  implement  vindictively  in  the  direction  of 
the  corpse,  while  the  other  rang  a  melodious  chime  on 
the  bell.  At  this  all  the  babies  fell  on  their  knees. 
The  priest  muttered  a  few  lines  of  Latin,  made  the 
sign  of  the  cross,  and  disappeared  to  another  chime 
of  the  bells  and  a  last  toss  of  the  censer.  The  bearers 
picked  up  the  coffin,  and  the  little  procession  went 
on  its  way  to  the  cemetery.  The  ceremony  lasted  about 
one  minute  and  a  half,  and  consumed  three  out  of  my 
five  pesos. 

This  incident  illustrates  neatly  the  friendless  con- 
dition in  which  most  Filipino  poor  live.  Filipino  lower- 
class  people  are  gregarious,  but  not  sociable.  They 
are  averse  to  solitary  rural  life  and  tend  everywhere 
to  live  in  villages,  but  they  visit  little  with  each  other, 
and  seem  very  indifferent  to  the  cordial  relations  which 
bind  our  own  laboring  classes  together. 

In  the  same  yard  with  the  dead  lavandero  lived  at 
least  ten  or  twelve  other  ^Families,  yet  no  one  could  be 
found  to  accompany  him  to  his  grave  save  two  play- 
mates of  his  son. 

If  the  poor  are  fond  of  display,  the  rich  outvie  them. 
The  pomp  of  a  rich  man's  obsequies  finds  its  beginning 


SICKBEDS  AND   FUNERALS  267 

while  he  is  yet  on  earth,  when  the  padre  goes  in  state 
to  administer  extreme  unction.  His  vehicle,  a  gilt 
coach  which  looks  like  the  pictures  of  those  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  is  often  preceded  by  a  band, 
while  the  priest  within  is  arrayed  in  embroidered  vest- 
ments. When  the  surra,  or  horse  disease,  had  made 
a  scarcity  of  those  animals,  the  padre's  gilded  equipage 
had  to  be  drawn  by  a  cebu,  or  very  small  and  weary- 
looking  cow,  imported  from  Indo-China.  The  spectacle 
of  this  yoke  animal,  the  gilt  coach,  and  the  padre  in 
all  his  vestments  was  one  not  to  be  forgotten. 

When  the  rich  man  dies,  there  is  generally  a  wake, 
noisy  enough,  as  before  stated,  to  be  Irish,  and  a  pre- 
tentious funeral.  Five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  seems 
to  be  a  favorite  hour  for  this.  In  the  rainy  season, 
with  sodden  clouds  hanging  low  in  the  sky,  with 
almond  trees  dripping  down,  and  the  great  church 
starred  with  candles  which  do  not  illuminate  but 
which  dot  the  gloom,  the  occasion  is  lugubrious  indeed. 
Fresh  flowers  are  little  used,  but  immortelles  and  set 
designs  accompanied  by  long  streamers  of  gilt-lettered 
ribbon  attest  the  courtesy  of  friends. 
/^They  bury  the  dead  —  that  is,  all  the  upper-class 
'  dead  —  mnichos,  or  ovens,  such  as  are  found  in  the 
old  cemeteries  of  New  Orleans.  The  cemetery,  which 
is  usually  owned,  not  by  the  municipality  but  by  the 
church,  is  surrounded  by  a  brick  or  stone  wall  six  or 
eight  feet  high  surmounted  by  a  balustrade  of  red 
baked  clay  in  an  urn  design.  The  ovens  form  their 
back  walls  against  this,  and  are  arranged  in  tiers  of 
four  or  five,  so  that  the  top  of  the  ovens  makes  a  fine 


268     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

promenade  around  three  sides  of  the  enclosure.  In 
the  centre  there  is  generally  a  mortuary  chapel,  where 
the  final  words  are  said.  From  the  chapel  tiled  walks 
lead  out  to  the  ovens.  The  plan  is  a  very  pretty  one, 
and  if  the  cemeteries  were  kept  in  good  condition,  it 
would  be  beautiful.  But  they  are  nearly  always  dirty 
and  neglected. 

In  the  open  ground  between  the  chapel  and  the  sides, 
the  poor  people  are  rolled  into  graves  so  shallow  that 
a  little  digging  would  soon  exhume  the  body. 

The  nichos,  or  ovens,  are  rented  by  the  year;  if 
the  tenant's  surviving  family  are  not  prompt  with  the 
annual  payment,  the  body  is  taken  out,  the  bones 
cast  ruthlessly  over  the  back  fence,  and  the  premises 
once  more  declared  vacant. 

When  we  first  came,  there  used  to  be  a  great  heap 
of  these  bones  at  the  back  of  the  Paco  Cemetery  in 
Manila,  but  so  much  was  said  about  them  that  the 
Church  grew  sensitive  and  removed  them.  Our  ceme- 
tery at  Capiz  also  had  its  bone  heap. 

An  American  negress,  a  dressmaker  who  was  work- 
ing for  me,  told  me  that  there  was  a  petrified  man,  an 
American,  in  the  Paco  Cemetery,  and  that  the  body 
was  on  exhibition.  She  had  been  to  see  it,  and  it  was 
wonderful.  I  had  my  doubts  about  the  petrifying, 
but  as  I  had  to  pass  the  cemetery  on  leaving  her  house, 
I  asked  the  custodian  at  the  gate  if  there  was  such  a 
body  there.  He  said  that  the  body  had  just  been 
removed  by  the  city  authorities  to  be  placed  in  the 
"Cemeterio  del  Norte, "  where  there  is  a  plot  for 
paupers.    The  body  was  that  of  an  American,  buried 


SICKBEDS  AND   FUNERALS  269 

in  the  cemetery  five  years  before.  His  rent,  five  pesos 
a  year,  had  been  prepaid  for  five  years,  but  his 
time  had  run  out.  When  they  came  to  take  out  the 
body,  which  had  been  embalmed,  it  was  found  in  a 
remarkable  state  of  preservation.  The  custodian  said, 
with  an  irreligious  grin,  that  in  the  old  days  the  con- 
dition of  the  body  would  have  been  called  a  miracle, 
and  a  patron  saint  would  have  been  made  responsible, 
and  all  the  people  would  have  come,  bearing  lighted 
candles,  to  do  honor  to  the  saint;  and  he  added  re- 
gretfully that  it  was  no  good  in  these  days.  The  Ameri- 
cans would  say  that  it  was  because  of  their  superior 
embalming  process.  "But  what  a  chance  missed !" 
he  said,  "and  what  a  pity  to  let  it  go  with  no  dem- 
onstration !"  There  are  many  ways  of  looking  at  the 
same  thing.  I  could  not  help  laughing,  thinking  of 
the  negress.  She  said,  "He's  siUm'  up  there  by  the 
little  church,  lookin'  as  handsome  as  life  —  and  him 
petrified !" 


CHAPTER  TWENTY-ONE 

SPORTS  AND   AMUSEMENTS 

Dancing,  Cock-fighting,  Gambling,  Theatricals  —  Sunday 
in  the  Philippines  —  Lukewarmness  of  Protestant 
Christians  in  the  Philippines  —  How  a  Priest  led  Astray 
the  Baptist  Missionary's  Congregation  on  Thanks- 
giving —  Scarcity  of  Amusements  in  Provincial  Life  — 
An  Exhibition  of  Moving  Pictures  —  Entertainments 
for  the  Poorer  Natives  —  The  Tragedy  of  the  Dovecot. 

THE  Filipino's  idea  of  a  good  time  is  a  dance. 
Sometimes,  in  the  country,  a  dance  will  go  on 
for  forty-eight  hours.  People  will  slip  out  and 
get  a  little  sleep  and  come  back  again.  Next  to  the 
dance,  the  cock-fight  is  their  chief  joy.  A  cock-fight  is, 
however,  not  a  prolonged  or  painful  thing.  Tiny  knives, 
sharp  as  surgical  instruments,  are  fastened  to  each 
bird's  heels,  and  the  cock  which  gets  in  the  first  blow 
generally  settles  his  antagonist. 

Gambling  is  the  national  vice.  The  men  gamble  at 
monte  and  pangingue,  and  over  their  domino  games, 
their  horses,  and  their  game-cocks.  The  women  of 
both  high  and  low  class  not  infrequently  organize  a 
little  card  game  immediately  after  breakfast  and  keep 
at  it  till  lunch,  after  which  they  begin  again  and  play 
till  evening.  Women  also  attend  the  cock-fights,  espe- 
cially on  Sunday.    Often  the  cockpit  is  in  the  rear  of 


SPORTS  AND  AMUSEMENTS  271 

the  church  and  the  convento ;  and  the  padre  derives  a 
revenue  from  it. 

Manila,  being  the  metropolis,  has  its  theatres,  cine- 
matograph shows,  and  music  halls.  Nearly  every  year 
there  is  a  season  of  Italian  opera,  in  which  the  principals 
are  very  good,  and  the  chorus,  for  obvious  reasons,  small 
and  poor.  Most  of  the  theatrical  talent  which  wanders 
in  and  out  comes  from  Australia.  One  theatre,  which 
American  women  do  not  patronize,  keeps  a  sort  of 
music-hall  programme  going  all  year.  There  are  many 
smaller  theatres,  where  plays  in  the  Tagalog  language, 
the  products  of  local  talent,  are  presented.  I  cannot 
say  what  is  the  trend  of  these  at  the  present  time,  but 
seven  years  ago  the  plots  nearly  all  embraced  bad 
Spanish  frailes  who  were  pursuing  innocent  Filipino 
maidens,  and  who  always  came  to  an  end  worthy  of 
their  evil  deeds.  The  disposition  to  express  racial  and 
political  hatreds  in  those  plays  was  so  strong  that  a 
friend  in  asking  me  to  go  naively  pictured  his  conception 
of  them  in  the  invitation.  He  said,  " Let's  go  over  to 
the  Filipino  theatre  and  see  them  kill  priests." 

Of  course,  there  is  no  Puritan  Sabbath  in  the  Phil- 
ippines. Theatres,  balls,  and  receptions  are  carried  on 
without  any  observance  of  that  day.  The  Protestant 
churches  make  a  valiant  effort  to  keep  a  tight  rein  over 
their  flocks,  but  with  little  success.  It  cannot  truth- 
fully be  said  that  most  Americans  here  are  either  fond 
of  church-going  or  fond  of  the  church  social,  which, 
with  its  accompanying  features  of  songs,  recitations, 
and  short  addresses  by  prominent  citizens,  who  were 
never  designed  by  the  Creator  to  speak  in  public,  and 


n%     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

its  creature  comforts  of  home-made  cake  and  ice 
cream,  has  leaped  the  Pacific. 

During  my  third  year  in  Capiz  a  Baptist  missionary 
arrived  and  took  up  his  work.  He  seemed  to  feel  that 
he  had  a  claim  upon  all  Americans  to  rally  to  his  sup- 
port. But,  alas !  they  did  not  come  up  to  his  expecta- 
tions. Some  were  Roman  Catholics;  others,  of  whom 
I  was  one,  had  an  affection  for  the  more  formal,  punctil- 
ious service  of  the  Church  of  England;  and  even  two 
or  three  nonconformist  teachers  realized  that  a  too 
open  devotion  to  the  missionary  cause  would  hopelessly 
endanger  their  usefulness  as  teachers. 

So  the  missionary  carried  on  his  services  for  nearly 
a  year,  and  no  single  American  appeared  at  them. 
His  congregation,  which  was  largely  recruited  from 
the  poorer  classes,  and  which  had  been  hoping  for 
the  social  advantage  which  would  be  derived  from  the 
American  alliance,  naturally  pressed  the  unfortunate 
missionary  for  a  reason.  The  sorely  tried  man  spoke  at 
last.  He  said  briefly  that  the  Americans  in  Capiz 
were  pagans. 

On  one  occasion  the  missionary  arranged  a  service 
for  Thanksgiving  morning  and  invited  us  personally. 
Of  course  we  all  said  that  we  should  be  glad  to  go.  But 
the  astute  padre  of  the  Church  Catholic  was  not  going 
to  have  any  such  object  lesson  as  that  paraded  before 
his  flock.  He  arranged  for  the  singing  of  a  Te  Deum 
in  honor  of  the  day  at  half-past  nine,  just  half  an 
hour  before  the  time  set  for  the  other  service.  Then  he 
got  the  Filipino  Governor  to  send  out  written  invita- 
tions from  his  office  in  such  a  way  that  the  affair  as- 


• 

* 

^gf   *          R 

1     *^^% 

i*4 

• 

■■P             H  j  -'■* 

^■^               **    «■   " 

•• 

*#fB& 

SPORTS  AND   AMUSEMENTS  273 

sumed  the  complexion  of  a  national  courtesy  offered 
by  the  Filipino  to  the  American.  For  us,  as  Govern- 
ment employees,  to  disregard  this  was  impossible.  So 
we  went  en  masse  to  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  where 
two  rows  of  high-backed  chairs  were  arranged  facing 
each  other  up  the  centre  of  the  church  for  our  high 
mightinesses. 

We  had  agreed  privately  that  after  the  Te  Deum  we 
would  go  over  to  the  Protestant  chapel,  and  not  leave 
the  poor  missionary  to  feel  himself  wholly  deserted.  But 
no  opportunity  came.  The  service  was  prolonged  till 
any  hope  of  our  appearing  in  the  rival  chapel  was  effec- 
tually quashed.  When  we  came  out,  we  looked  at  one 
another  and  burst  out  laughing.  It  was  one  more  evi- 
dence that  the  American  is  no  match  for  the  Filipino  in 
finesse. 

Naturally,  unless  one  falls  in  with  the  Filipino  devo- 
tion to  dancing,  there  are  few  sources  of  so-called 
amusement  in  provincial  life.  The  American  women 
visit  each  other  and  give  dinners,  which,  to  the  men  who 
live  in  helpless  subjection  to  an  ignorant  native  cook, 
are  less  a  social  than  a  gastronomic  joy.  If  we  are  near 
the  seashore,  we  make  up  picnics  on  the  beach,  swim, 
dig  clams,  and  cook  supper  over  a  fire  of  driftwood.  If 
thirst  overtakes  us,  we  send  a  native  up  a  tree  for  green 
cocoanuts.  He  cuts  a  lip-shaped  hole  in  the  shell  with 
two  strokes  of  his  bolo,  and  there  is  water,  crystal 
clear  and  fresh.  The  men  hunt  snipe  and  wild  ducks, 
and  sometimes  wild  pigs  and  deer. 

In  default  of  travelling  theatrical  companies,  the 
provincial  natives  have  their  own  organizations  of 

18 


274     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

local  talent  and  present  little  plays  in  either  Spanish  or 
the  native  tongue.  If  American  troops  are  stationed 
near  a  town,  there  will  be  one  or  two  minstrel  shows 
each  year.  The  Filipinos  all  go  to  these,  but  they  don't 
understand  them  very  well  and  are  not  edified.  I  think 
they  imagine  that  the  cake  walk  is  a  national  dance 
with  us,  and  that  the  President  of  the  United  States 
leads  out  some  important  lady  for  this  at  inaugural 
balls. 

Once  in  a  while  a  travelling  cinematograph  outfit 
roams  through  the  provinces,  and  then  for  a  tariff  of 
twenty-five  cents  Mexican  we  throng  the  little  theatre 
night  after  night.  I  remember  once  a  company  of 
"  barn-stormers"  from  Australia  were  stranded  in  Iloilo. 
They  had  a  moving  picture  outfit,  and  a  young  lady 
attired  in  a  pink  costume  de  ballet  stood  plaintively  at 
one  side  and  sang,  plaintively  and  very  nasally,  a  long 
account  of  the  courting  of  some  youthful  Georgia  couple. 
The  lovers  embraced  each  other  tenderly  (as  per  view) 
in  an  interior  that  had  a  "  throw "  over  every  picture 
corner,  table,  and  chair  back.  Some  huge  American 
soldier  down  in  the  pit  said,  "That 's  the  real  thing; 
no  doubt  about  it,"  but  whether  his  words  had  refer- 
ence to  the  love-making  or  the  room  we  could  not  tell. 

The  song  went  on,  the  lovers  married  and  went 
North;  but  after  awhile  the  bride  grew  heartsick  for 
the  old  home,  so  "We  journeyed  South  a  spell."  With 
this  line  the  moving  picture  flung  at  us,  head  on,  a  great 
passenger  locomotive  and  its  trailing  cars.  To  the  right 
there  were  a  country  road,  meadows,  some  distant  hills, 
a  stake  and  rider  fence,  and  a  farmhouse.     The  scene 


SPORTS  AND  AMUSEMENTS  275 

was  homely,  simple,  typically  American,  and  rustic, 
and  it  sent  every  drop  of  loyal  American  blood  tingling. 
The  tears  rushed  to  my  eyes,  and  I  could  n't  forbear 
joining  in  the  roar  of  approbation  that  went  up  from  the 
American  contingent.  An  Englishman  who  was  with 
our  party  insisted  that  I  opened  my  arms  a  yard  and  a 
half  to  give  strength  to  my  applause.  I  said  I  did  n't 
regret  it.  We  poor  expatriated  wanderers  had  been 
drifting  about  for  months  with  no  other  emotion  than 
homesickness,  but  we  had  a  lively  one  then.  The  Fili- 
pino audience  at  first  sat  amazed  at  the  outburst ;  but 
their  sympathies  are  quick  and  keen,  and  in  an  instant 
th§y  realized  what  it  meant  to  the  exiles,  and  the  wave 
of  feeling  swept  into  them  too.  The  young  lady  in  the 
pink  costume  grew  perceptibly  exalted,  and  in  the  effort 
to  be  more  pathetic  achieved  a  degree  of  nasal  intonation 
which,  combined  with  her  Australian  accent,  made  her 
unique. 

The  poorer  natives  have  one  source  of  enjoyment 
in  a  sort  of  open-air  play  which  they  call  colloquio. 
This  is  always  in  the  hands  of  local  talent,  and  is  prob- 
ably of  Spanish  mediaeval  origin.  The  three  actors  are 
a  captive  princess,  a  villain,  and  a  true  knight.  The 
villain  is  nearly  always  masked,  and  sometimes  the 
princess  and  knight  "are  masked  also.  The  costuming 
is  European.  The  performance  may  take  place  in  a 
house  if  anybody  is  kind  enough  to  offer  one,  but  more 
frequently  the  street  is  the  scene.  A  ring  is  marked  off, 
and  the  captive  princess  stands  in  the  middle,  while 
knight  and  villain  circle  about  her  with  their  wooden 
swords,  countering,  and  apparently  making  up  verses 


276     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

and  dialogue  as  they  go  along.  When  they  get  tired, 
the  princess  tells  her  sorrowful  tale.  The  people  will 
stand  for  hours  about  a  performance  of  this  sort,  and 
for  weeks  afterwards  the  children  will  repeat  it  in  their 
play. 

Once  a  circo,  or  group  of  acrobats,  came  to  Capiz  and 
played  for  over  a  month  to  crowded  houses.  The  low- 
class  people  and  Chinese  thronged  the  nipa  shack  of  the 
theatre  night  after  night  from  nine  p.  m.  till  two  a.  m. 
When  a  Filipino  goes  to  the  theatre,  he  expects  to  get 
his  money's  worth.  I  myself  did  not  attend  the  circo, 
but  judging  from  what  I  saw  the  children  attempt  to 
repeat,  and  one  other  incident,  I  fancy  it  was  quite 
educative. 

The  other  incident  has  to  do  with  my  henchman, 
Basilio,  previously  mentioned,  who  later  arrived  at  the 
dignity  of  public  school  janitor.  Basilio  had  been  a 
regular  patron  of  the  circo,  so  much  so  that  he  came 
into  my  debt.  One  of  the  first  things  we  had  set  our- 
selves to  do  was  the  clearing  up  of  all  school  grounds 
and  premises  by  pupil  labor.  Exactly  in  the  middle 
of  the  back  yard  of  the  Provincial  School  was  a  great 
dovecot,  which  spoiled  the  lawn  for  grass  tennis  courts. 
So  our  industrial  teacher  decided  to  move  the  dovecot 
bodily  to  another  place.  I  doubted  if  it  could  be 
accomplished  without  somebody's  getting  hurt,  and 
Basilio,  without  offering  any  reason,  vociferously  echoed 
my  sentiments,  and  jeered  openly  at  the  idea  of  the  in- 
dustrial teacher's  getting  that  dovecot  safe  and  sound 
to  the  other  end  of  the  yard. 

I  refused  to  risk  the  Provincial  School  boys  on  the 


SPORTS  AND  AMUSEMENTS  277 

task,  so  the  teacher  borrowed  a  file  of  prisoners  from 
the  Provincial  jail.  Basilio  the  incredulous  was  or- 
dered to  be  on  hand  and  to  make  himself  useful.  He 
appeared  in  a  pair  of  white  duck  trousers,  the  gift 
probably  of  some  departing  American,  and  somebody's 
discarded  bathing  shirt  in  cherry  and  black  stripes. 
He  had  cut  off  the  trousers  legs  at  the  thighs,  and,  with 
bare  arms  and  legs  glistening,  was  as  imposing  an 
acrobat  as  one  could  wish  to  see. 

I  had  long  wanted  a  swing  put  up  in  a  great  fire-tree 
which  stood  near  the  dovecot,  and  while  the  prisoners 
were  loosening  the  earth  about  the  four  supporting 
posts,  I  sent  Basilio  to  put  it  up.  He  finished  his  work 
just  as  the  prisoners  were  ready  to  heave  up  on  the 
posts,  and,  to  express  his  entire  glee  in  what  was 
shortly  to  occur,  he  came  down  the  rope  a  la  circo,  and 
landed  himself  with  a  ballet  dancer's  pirouette,  kissing 
both  hands  toward  the  tugging  men.  Anything  more 
graceful  and  more  comical  than  Basilio's  antics,  I  have 
never  seen. 

The  dovecot  was  supported,  as  I  said,  by  four  great 
posts  sunk  in  the  ground.  On  top  of  these  was  a  plat- 
form, and  on  the  platform  rested  the  house.  The 
American  teacher  had  assumed  that  the  platform  was 
securely  fastened  to  the  posts  and  that  the  house  was 
nailed  to  the  platform.  This  was  his  great  mistake. 
He  had  not  been  over  very  long,  and  he  could  n't  make 
allowance  for  the  Filipino  aversion  for  unnecessary 
labor.  The  dovecot  would  hold  firm  by  its  own  weight, 
and  the  builders  had  not  seen  the  necessity  of  wasting 
nails  and  strength. 


278     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

Basilio  with  outstretched  arms  continued  to  stand  on 
his  toes  while  the  prisoners  grunted  over  the  posts, 
which  came  up  with  difficulty.  They  were  shamelessly 
lazy  and  indifferent  to  the  commands  of  the  industrial 
teacher,  who  had,  however,  the  sagacity  to  get  out  of 
range  himself.  They  lifted  unevenly,  there  was  a  tip- 
ping, a  sliding,  and  a  smash,  as  by  one  impulse  the 
prisoners  jumped  aside  and  let  house,  platform,  and 
posts  come  thundering  to  the  ground.  Feathers  drifted 
about  like  snow ;  there  were  wild  flutterings  of  doves ; 
and  squabs  and  eggs  spattered  the  lawn. 

When  I  saw  that  nobody  was  hurt,  I  joined  in  the 
cackles  of  the  prisoners,  who  were  doubled  up  with  joy 
at  the  discomfiture  of  the  American  teacher.  He  was 
in  a  blind  rage,  which  was  not  diminished  by  the  out- 
cries and  lamentations  of  the  Governor  and  a  horde  of 
clerks,  who  swarmed  out  to  express  their  grief  over 
the  wanton  destruction  of  a  landmark.  Privately,  I 
don't  believe  they  cared  a  rap,  but  the  opportunity 
to  reproach  an  American  for  bad  judgment  comes 
so  seldom  to  the  Filipinos  that  they  refuse  to  let  it 
escape. 

Basilio  never  moved  a  muscle  when  the  crash  came. 
He  had  stood  buoyantly  expectant;  he  received  it 
flamboyantly  calm.  A  smile  of  ineffable  pleasure  then 
seized  upon  his  features,  and  with  the  breaking  forth 
of  the  chorus  he  rose  to  joyous  action.  He  spun  on 
his  heels  like  a  dervish.  He  threw  handsprings,  he 
walked  on  his  hands,  he  exhausted,  in  short,  all  that  he 
had  been  able  to  acquire  in  the  abandon  of  the  previous 
weeks ;  and  then  gravely  righting  himself,  he  went  over 


SPORTS  AND   AMUSEMENTS  279 

and  began  to  pick  up  squabs.  These  he  offered  to  the 
American  with  a  perfectly  wooden  countenance,  and 
with  the  simple  statement  that  they  were  very  good 
eating.  He  acted  as  if  he  thought  the  teacher  had 
done  it  all  for  that  purpose. 


CHAPTER  TWENTY-TWO 

CHILDREN'S  GAMES  —  THE   CONQUEST  OF  FIRES 

Children's  Games  —  How  Moonlight  Nights  are  enjoyed  — 
The  Popularity  of  Baseball  among  the  Filipinos  — 
My  Domestics  play  the  Game  —  The  Difficulty  of 
putting  out  Fires  —  Need  of  Water-storage  for  the 
Dry  Season  —  Apathy  of  the  Public  at  Fires  —  Ex- 
amples SHOWING  THE  LOYALTY  AND  DEVOTION  OF  SER- 
VANTS when  Fires  occur. 

FILIPINO  children  are  not  so  active  as  the  chil- 
dren of  our  own  race,  and  their  games  incline 
to  the  sedentary  order.  Like  their  elders,  they 
gamble ;  and  like  all  children,  the  world  over,  they  have 
a  certain  routine  in  which  games  succeed  one  another. 
At  one  season  in  the  year  the  youngsters  are  absorbed 
in  what  must  be  a  second  cousin  to  "  craps."  Every 
child  has  some  sort  of  tin  can  filled  with  small  spotted 
seashells.  They  throw  these  like  dice ;  they  slap  their 
hands  together  with  the  raking  gesture  of  the  crap- 
player,  and  utter  ejaculations  in  which  numeral  ad- 
jectives predominate,  and  which  must  be  similar  to 
" lucky  six"  and  kindred  expressions. 

Following  the  crap  game  there  is  usually  a  reason  of 
devotion  to  a  kind  of  solitaire  which  is  played  with 
shells  on  a  circular  board,  scooped  out  into  a  series  of 
little  cup-like  depressions.    They  will  amuse  themselves 


CHILDREN'S   GAMES  281 

with  this  for  hours  at  a  time.  The  shells  are  moved 
from  cup  to  cup,  and  other  shells  are  thrown  like  dice 
to  determine  how  the  shells  are  to  progress. 

The  commonest  form  of  child  gambling,  however,  is 
that  of  pitching  coppers  on  the  head  and  tail  plan.  You 
may  see  twenty  or  more  games  of  this  sort  at  any  time 
around  a  primary  school.  Sometimes  the  game  ends  in  a 
fight.  Sometimes  the  biggest  urchin  gathers  up  every- 
thing in  sight  and  escapes  on  the  ringing  of  the  bell, 
leaving  his  howling  victims  behind. 

Not  unnaturally,  in  consideration  of  the  heat,  there 
is  comparatively  little  enthusiasm  for  rough  sport.  The 
only  very  active  play  in  which  little  boys  and  girls 
engage,  is  leap  frog,  which  differs  slightly  from  the 
game  in  our  own  country. 

Two  children  sit  upon  the  ground  and  clasp  their 
right  hands.  A  leader  starts  out,  clears  this  barrier, 
and  all  the  rest  of  the  players  follow.  Then  one  of  the 
sitting  children  clasps  his  unoccupied  left  hand  upon 
the  upraised  thumb  of  his  companion,  thus  raising  the 
height  of  the  barrier  by  the  width  of  the  palm.  The 
line  starts  again  and  all  jump  this.  Then  the  second 
sitter  adds  his  palm  and  thumb  to  the  barrier,  and  the 
line  of  players  attack  this.  It  is  more  than  likely  that 
some  one  will  fail  to  clear  this  last  barrier,  and  the  one 
who  does  so  squats  down,  pressing  close  to  the  other 
two,  and  puts  in  his  grimy  little  paw  and  thumb.  So 
they  continue  to  raise  the  height  of  the  barrier  till,  at 
last,  nobody  can  jump  it. 

When  they  play  drop  the  handkerchief,  Filipino  chil- 
dren squat  upon  their  heels  in  a  circle  instead  of  stand- 


282     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

ing.  They  have  also  the  familiar  "King  William  was 
King  James's  Son  ";  I  do  not  know  whether  the  words 
in  the  vernacular  which  they  use  are  the  equivalent 
of  ours  or  not.  The  air,  at  least,  is  the  one  with  which 
we  are  all  familiar. 

They  have  one  more  game  which  seems  to  be  some- 
thing like  our  hop-scotch  but  more  complicated.  The 
diagram,  which  is  roughly  scratched  out  on  the  ground, 
is  quite  an  extensive  one.  The  player  is  blindfolded, 
and  hops  about,  kicking  at  his  bit  of  stone  and  placing 
it  in  accordance  with  some  mysterious  rule  which  I 
have  vainly  sought  to  acquire.  The  children  play  this 
in  the  cool,  long-shadowed  afternoons,  when  they  have 
returned  from  school,  have  doffed  their  white  canvas 
shoes  and  short  socks,  and  have  reverted  to  the  single 
slip  of  the  country. 

There  is  a  local  game  of  football  which  is  played  with 
a  hollow  ball  or  basket  of  twisted  rattan  fibres.  The 
players  stand  in  a  ring,  and  when  the  ball  approaches 
one,  he  swings  on  one  heel  till  his  back  is  turned,  and, 
glancing  over  his  shoulder,  gives  it  a  queer  backward 
kick  with  the  heel  of  his  unoccupied  foot.  It  requires 
some  art  to  do  this,  yet  the  ball  will  be  kept  sometimes 
in  motion  for  two  or  three  minutes  without  once  fall- 
ing to  the  ground. 

On  moonlight  nights  the  Filipinos  make  the  best 
of  their  beautiful  world.  The  aristocrats  stroll  about 
in  groups  of  twenty,  or  even  thirty,  the  young  people 
snatching  at  the  opportunity  to  slip  into  private  con- 
versation and  enjoy  a  little  solitude  a  deux  while  their 
elders  are  engrossed  in  more  serious  topics.    The  com- 


CHILDREN'S  GAMES  283 

mon  people  enjoy  a  wholesome  romp  in  a  game  which 
seems  to  be  a  combination  of  "tag"  and  "prisoner's 
base."  Groups  of  serenaders  stroll  about  with  guitars 
and  mandolins,  and  altogether  a  most  sweet  and 
wholesome  domesticity  pervades  the  village. 

At  present  the  nearest  real  bond  between  American 
and  Filipino  is  baseball  —  "play ball"  the  Filipinos  call 
it,  having  learned  to  associate  these  words  with  it  from 
the  enthusiastic  shouts  of  American  onlookers.  Base- 
ball has  taken  firm  hold,  and  is  here  to  stay.  In  Manila 
every  plot  of  green  is  given  over  to  its  devotees.  Every 
secondary  school  in  the  country  has  its  nine  and  its 
school  colors  and  yell,  and  the  pupils  go  out  and  "root" 
as  enthusiastically  as  did  ever  freshmen  of  old  Yale  or 
Harvard.  No  Fourth  of  July  can  pass  without  its  base- 
ball game. 

We  had  a  good  baseball  team  at  Capiz  as  early  as 
1903,  and  played  matches  with  school  teams  from 
neighboring  towns.  I  did  not  realize,  however,  how 
popular  the  game  had  become  until  one  warm  after- 
noon, when  I  was  vainly  trying  to  get  a  nap. 

The  noise  under  my  window  was  deafening.  Thuds, 
shrieks,  a  babble  of  native  words,  and  familiar  English 
terms  floated  in  and  disturbed  my  rest.  Finally  I  got 
up  and  went  to  the  window. 

The  street  was  not  over  twenty-five  feet  wide,  the 
houses,  after  native  custom,  being  flush  with  the 
gutter.  In  this  narrow  space  my  servants  had  started 
a  game  of  ball.  They  had  the  diamond  all  marked  out, 
and  one  player  on  each  base.  There  was  Ceferiana, 
the  cook,  a  maid  of  seventeen,  with  her  hair  twisted 


284     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

into  a  Sappho  knot  at  the  back  with  one  wisp  hanging 
out  like  a  horse's  tail.  Her  petticoat  was  wrapped 
tightly  around  her  slim  body  and  its  back  fulness 
tucked  in  at  the  waist.  She  was  barefooted,  and  her 
toes,  wide  apart  as  they  always  are  when  shoes  have 
never  been  worn,  worked  with  excitement.  There 
was  Manuel,  who  skated  the  floors,  an  anaemic  youth  of 
fifteen  or  sixteen,  dressed  in  a  pair  of  dirty  white  under- 
drawers  with  the  ankle  strings  dragging,  and  in  an 
orange  and  black  knit  undershirt.  There  was  Rosario, 
the  little  maid  who  waited  on  me  and  went  to  school. 
She  was  third  base  and  umpire.  A  neighbor's  boy, 
about  eight  years  old,  was  first  base.  Manuel  was 
second  base  and  pitcher  combined.  Ceferiana  was  at 
the  bat,  while  behind  her  her  youngest  brother  —  he 
whose  engaging  smile  occupied  so  much  of  my  atten- 
tion at  the  funeral  of  the  lavandero  aforementioned  — 
was  spread  out  in  the  attitude  of  a  professional  catcher. 
His  plump,  rounded  little  legs  were  stretched  so  far 
apart  that  he  could  with  difficulty  retain  his  balance. 
He  scowled,  smacked  his  lips,  and  at  intervals  thumped 
the  back  of  his  pudgy,  clenched  fist  into  the  hollowed 
palm  of  the  other  hand  with  the  gesture  of  a  man  who 
wears  the  catcher's  mitt.  Had  a  professional  baseball 
team  from  the  States  ever  caught  sight  of  that  baby, 
they  would  have  secured  him  as  a  mascot  at  any 
price. 

The  ball  was  one  of  those  huge  green  oranges  which 
the  English  call  pomeloes,  about  twice  the  size  of  an 
American  grape-fruit.  Being  green,  and  having  a  skin 
an  inch  thick,  it  withstood  the  resounding  thwacks  of 


CHILDREN'S  GAMES  285 

the  bat  quite  remarkably.  It  was  fortunate  that  the 
diamond  was  so  small,  for  it  would  have  taken  more 
strength  than  any  of  the  players  possessed  to  send  that 
plaything  any  distance.  Catching  it  was  only  the  art 
of  embracing.  It  had  to  be  guided  and  hugged  to  the 
breast,  for  it  was  too  big  to  hold  in  the  hands.  The 
valorous  catcher,  in  spite  of  his  fiercely  professional 
air,  invariably  dodged  it  and  then  pursued  it. 

The  bat  was  a  board  about  eight  inches  wide, 
wrenched  from  the  lid  of  a  Batoum  oil  case  and  roughly 
cut  down  at  one  end  for  a  handle.  With  the  size 
of  the  ball  and  the  width  of  the  bat,  missing  was  an 
impossibility.  It  was  only  a  question  of  how  far  the 
strength  of  the  batter  could  send  the  ball.  When  it 
was  struck,  everybody  ran  to  the  next  base,  and 
seemed  to  feel  if  he  got  there  before  the  ball  hit 
ground,  he  had  scored  something. 

Rosario,  as  I  said,  was  both  third  base  and  umpire 
(after  a  run  they  always  reverted  to  their  original 
positions).  Her  voice  rang  out  in  a  symphony  like 
this:  "Wan  striM  Wan  ball!  Fou'  ball!  Ilapog! 
ilapog  sa  aeon!  Hindi!  Ilapog  sa  firs'  base!  Fou' 
ball." 

At  times  when  somebody  on  a  base  made  a  feint 
of  stealing  a  run  (  for  they  were  acting  out  everything 
as  they  had  seen  it  done  at  the  last  public  match), 
Manuel  threatened  all  points  of  the  compass  with  his 
four-inch  projectile,  and  again  the  voice  of  Rosario 
soared,  "Ilapog  —  Ilapog  sa  firs'  base  —  Hindi!  sa 
Ceferiana !  ah  (ow-ut) !  "  while  an  enthusiastic  onlooker 
who  had  set  down  a  bamboo  pipe  filled  with  tuba  dulce 


286     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

(the  unfermented  sap  of  the  nipa  palm  or  the  cocoanut 
tree)  added  his  lungs  to  the  uproar  in  probably  the 
only  two  English  words  he  knew  —  "Play  ball !  play 
ball ! " 

Thus  are  the  beginnings  of  great  movements  in  small 
things.  Those  children  got  more  real  Americanism 
out  of  that  corrupted  ball  game  than  they  did  from 
singing  M  My  Country,  't  is  of  Thee  "  every  morning. 

From  a  baseball  game  to  a  fire  is  a  far  cry,  but 
fire  in  the  Philippines  has  such  distinctive  features 
that  I  cannot  pass  it  without  a  word.  The  lack  of 
all  facilities  for  combating  it  makes  it  an  ever  present 
menace.  The  combustible  materials  of  which  houses 
are  built,  and  their  close  crowding  together,  tend  to 
spread  it  rapidly ;  while  the  thatched  roofs  make  even 
the  burning  of  an  isolated  house  a  danger  to  the  entire 
community. 

Manila  has  an  up-to-date  American  fire  department, 
but  even  there,  with  water  mains  and  a  signal-box 
system  for  alarms,  a  fire  once  started  in  a  nipa  dis- 
trict in  the  dry  season  can  seldom  be  checked  until 
the  neighborhood  is  clean  swept.  In  the  provinces, 
where  there  is  not  so  much  as  a  bucket  brigade, 
the  first  alarm  sends  everybody's  heart  into  his 
mouth. 

The  chief  trouble  is  the  lack  of  water  for  putting 
out  a  fire  in  its  incipiency.  Never  was  there  a  land  in 
which  water  was  more  abundant  or  more  scarce  than 
it  is  in  the  Philippines.  For  five  months  of  every  year 
the  skies  let  down  a  deluge,  but  nothing  appreciable 


CHILDREN'S   GAMES  287 

of  all  the  downfall  is  saved.  The  rich  —  the  haughty, 
ostentatious  rich  —  have  great  masonry  tanks  walled 
up  at  the  ends  of  their  houses,  capable  of  holding  two 
or  three  thousand  gallons  of  water.  With  the  contents 
of  these  tanks  the  rich  people  supply  themselves  with 
drinking  water  during  the  dry  season,  and  net  a  con- 
siderable income  from  its  sale  to  their  less  fortunate 
neighbors.  The  merely  well-to-do  people  content 
themselves  with  a  galvanized  iron  tank,  which  may 
store  from  two  to  six  hundred  gallons,  which  is  seldom 
enough  to  last  out  the  dry  season.  In  this  case  they 
buy  water  from  the  mountaineers,  who  fill  their  tinajas, 
or  twenty-gallon  earthenware  jars,  with  water  from 
mountain  springs,  and  bring  them  to  the  nearest 
towns  in  bancas. 

The  poor  people  have  no  way  whatever  of  storing 
rain-water,  and  either  beg  a  few  quarts  each  day  from 
the  rich  people  to  whom  they  are  feudally  attached, 
or  else  they  fall  back  upon  the  ground  wells,  or  pozos, 
which,  even  they  know,  breed  fevers  and  dysentery. 

By  no  means  every  house  has  its  well.  Sometimes 
there  are  only  two  or  three  to  a  block.  Sometimes 
the  well  is  merely  a  shallow  hole,  uncemented,  to 
catch  the  seepage  of  the  upper  strata.  Sometimes  it 
is  a  very  deep  stone- walled  cavity.  Rarely  is  there  a 
pump  or  a  windlass  or  any  other  fixed  aid  for  raising 
the  water. 

When  a  fire  starts,  therefore,  with  such  an  inade- 
quate water  supply,  nothing  can  be  done  except  to 
tear  down  communicating  houses  or  roofs.  Enter- 
prising natives  who  live  even  at  a  considerable  dis- 


288     IMPRESSIONS  OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

tance,  usually  mount  their  ridge-poles  and  wet  down 
their  roofs  if  they  can  get  the  water  with  which  to 
do  it. 

In  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  fire  itself  tumult 
reigns.  Filipino  womankind,  who  are  so  alluringly 
feminine,  are  also  femininely  helpless  in  a  crisis,  and 
if  there  be  no  men  around  to  direct  and  sustain  them, 
often  lose  their  heads  entirely.  They  give  way  to 
lamentations,  gather  up  their  babies,  and  flee  to  the 
homes  of  their  nearest  relatives.  Often  they  forget 
even  their  jewels  and  ready  money,  which  are  locked 
in  a  wardrobe. 

Meanwhile,  if  there  be  men  folks  about,  they  make 
a  more  systematic  effort  to  save  things,  and  as  all 
relatives  and  connections  who  are  out  of  danger  them- 
selves rush  in  at  the  first  alarm,  quite  a  little  may  be 
rescued.  The  things  which  are  traditional  with  us  as 
showing  how  people  lose  their  heads  at  a  fire  are  just 
as  evident  here  as  in  our  own  land.  They  throw  dishes, 
glassware,  and  fine  furniture  out  of  the  windows,  and 
carry  down  iron  pots  and  pillows.  The  poor  gather 
their  little  store  of  clothing  in  sheets,  release  the 
tethered  goats,  puppies,  game-cocks,  and  monkeys, 
which  are  always  abundant  about  their  shacks,  and 
toddle  off  with  their  doll  trunks  in  their  arms.  The 
sight  is  a  pitiful  one,  especially  when  the  old  and  de- 
crepit, of  which  almost  every  house  yields  up  one  or 
more,  are  carried  out  in  hammocks  or  chairs.  Yet 
in  a  few  hours  all  will  have  found  shelter  with  friends, 
and  probably  the  suffering  consequent  upon  a  fire  is 
less  than  in  our  own  country,  where  people  have 


CHILDREN'S   GAMES  289 

more  to  lose  and  where  the  rigor  of  climate  is  a  factor 
not  to  be  overlooked. 

There  is  very  little  use  in  combating  fire  under  such 
circumstances,  and  perhaps  long  experience  has  con- 
tributed to  the  apathy  with  which  such  disasters  are 
treated.  The  American  constabulary  and  military 
officials  generally  turn  out  their  men,  and  lend  every 
effort  themselves  to  quell  the  flames.  Here  and  there 
individual  Filipinos,  such  as  governors  or  presidentes, 
who  feel  the  pressure  of  official  responsibility,  display 
considerable  activity;  but,  on  the  whole,  the  aristo- 
cratic, or  governing,  class  rather  demonstrates  its 
weakness  at  such  times.  The  men  whose  property 
is  not  threatened  seldom  exert  themselves,  but  stand 
in  groups  and  chatter  about  how  this  could  be  done 
or  that.  Everybody  is  full  of  suggestions  for  somebody 
else  to  execute,  but  nobody  does  anything.  The  muni- 
cipal police  nose  about  in  the  crowd,  and  at  intervals 
seize  upon  some  obscure  and  inoffensive  citizen,  pro- 
pelling him  violently  in  the  direction  of  the  conflagra- 
tion with  orders  to  "work."  He  half-heartedly  picks 
up  an  old  five-gallon  petroleum  can  or  a  bamboo 
water-pipe,  and  starts  off  to  the  nearest  well,  but  as 
soon  as  he  is -out  of  range  of  the  policeman's  eye  he 
drops  the  article,  shuffles  back  into  the  gazing  crowd, 
and  does  no  more  work. 

At  such  time  the  loyalty  and  devotion  of  servants 
are  put  to  a  severe  test.  Two  incidents  came  under 
my  notice  which  it  is  a  pleasure  to  describe.  During 
my  third  year  at  Capiz  our  own  home  (I  was  "mess- 
ing"   with    another  American  woman  teacher)   was 

19 


290     IMPRESSIONS   OF   THE  PHILIPPINES 

threatened  by  fire  one  night,  and  all  our  household 
goods  were  carried  out  and  saved  by  American  men. 
The  house  was  on  fire  more  than  once,  but  they  man- 
aged to  extinguish  the  fire  each  time. 

Mention  has  previously  been  made  of  my  little 
maid,  Ceferiana.  At  the  first  alarm  that  night,  she 
rushed  into  my  room,  and,  spreading  out  a  sheet, 
began  to  throw  clothes  into  it  from  my  drawers  and 
wardrobe.  When  she  had  gathered  up  a  full  bundle, 
she  rushed  off  to  a  place  of  safety,  deposited  it  and 
came  back  for  more.  Meanwhile  I  had  gathered  up 
some  silver  and  other  valuables,  and  locked  them  in  a 
trunk.  Ceferiana  helped  me  to  carry  this  out,  and  as 
we  were  returning,  the  sweep  of  the  flames  seemed  to 
be  almost  engulfing  our  house.  For  the  first  time 
Ceferiana  gave  a  thought  to  her  own  possessions. 
With  a  wail  —  "Ah,  Dios  mio,  mi  ropa!"  ("Oh,  my 
God!  my  clothes !")  —  she  sank  down  on  her  knees, 
beating  her  breast,  and  bewailing  the  loss  of  a  ward- 
robe made  up  chiefly  from  my  cast-off  garments,  but 
even  then  far  richer  than  that  of  most  girls  of  her  class. 

About  this  time  the  American  men  began  to  arrive 
on  the  scene,  and  though  they  would  not  permit  us 
to  return  to  the  house,  they  chivalrously  rescued  Cefe- 
riana's  possessions  as  well  as  mine. 

The  lady  who  lived  with  me  had  some  time  before 
discharged  a  servant  for  a  cause  which  we  others 
considered  not  very  just.  She  was  timid,  and  as  her 
husband  was  away,  she  was  unwilling  to  permit  the 
servant  to  leave  the  premises  for  even  a  brief  time. 
Filipino  servants  simply  cannot  be  handled  in  that 


CHILDREN'S   GAMES  291 

way.  A  certain  amount  of  time  for  recreation  and 
pleasure  is  their  just  due,  and  they  will  have  it.  Adol- 
phus,  robbed  of  his  paseo,  reported  that  his  grand- 
mother was  dying,  and  demanded  an  evening  off  to 
visit  her.  His  mistress  happened  to  take  a  walk  that 
evening  and  beheld  Adolphus  the  perfidious,  not  sit- 
ting by  a  dying  grandmother,  but  tripping  the  light 
fantastic  in  a  nipa  shack,  eight  by  twelve.  She  forth- 
with discharged  Adolphus,  and  even  levied  on  the 
services  of  a  friendly  constabulary  officer  to  thrash 
him  with  a  stingaree,  or  sting  ray  cane.  Adolphus 
retaliated  by  forging  her  husband's  name  to  some  chits 
for  liquors.  She  had  him  arrested,  prosecuted,  and 
jailed.  He  had  just  finished  his  sentence  when  the 
fire  came.  He  was  almost  the  first  person  to  appear, 
and  worked  like  a  Trojan  for  two  hours,  his  services 
being  of  no  mean  value.  I  think  the  reader  will  agree 
with  me  that  Adolphus  showed  a  Christian  and  for- 
giving spirit. 


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